Google

This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project

to make the world's books discoverable online.

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject

to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books

are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.

Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the

publisher to a library and finally to you.

Usage guidelines

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing tliis resource, we liave taken steps to
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.
We also ask that you:

+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for
personal, non-commercial purposes.

+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.

+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for in forming people about this project and helping them find
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.

+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe.

About Google Book Search

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web

at |http: //books .google .com/I

to?-^ \

f

ON THE

LIFE, WRITINGS, AND GENIUS

OF

AKENSIDE.

LONDON :

PBINTED BT THOMAS DiiYISOK, WHITEFRIARS.

:i

n

L

^«a*

A)KlSS?gJE]D31.,

ii«i ■■ k'-^ii^^-^i^^S^^vvMBBVZ^^R^BavaWHHVS^^Bi^a^^S^KSaBiVB^V

ON THE

LIFE, WRITINGS, AND GENIUS

OF

AKENSIDE:

WITH

SOME ACCOUNT OF HIS FRIENDS.

BY CHARLES BUCKEj

AUTHOR OF THE BEAUTIES, HARMONIES, AND SUBLIMITIES OF

NATURE.

(«

The spadous west,

And all the teeming regions of the south,
Hold not a quarry to the curious flight
Of knowledge, half so tempting and so fair
As Man to Man.*'

Pkature* of ItnagkiaiUm.

LONDON :
JAMES COCHRANE AND CO., WATERLOO-PLACE.

1^

} t J, J , > >

' J

> I

• • • ^ » •

• • • • ^

. . » . •• •

• . • J • # • • •
• *!■». *• •• '

w «

TO

JOSEPH M^CREA, ESQ.

DEAR SIR,

To whom can I dedicate these pages with
so much propriety, as to One, whose sur-
gical skill preserved the life of a son ; and
to whose never-sleeping kindness and con-
sideration I have been indebted, on a thou-
sand different occasions ?

'' No years can wash these grateful thoughts away!"

I would have sought leave to signify my
respect ; but I would not be denied. Accept,
then, this memorial as it is meant; and be-
lieve me to be.

Your very faithful

and affectionate friend,

THE AUTHOR,

London*

Having always esteemed the Pleasures
OF Imagination the finest didactic Poem in
our language, it was with no small pleasure,
that I accidentally discovered, some time
since, a few MS. notes of Akenside at the
British Museum.

These notes are not very important ; but
they led me to regret, — as, indeed, I had
often done before, — that all the accounts, we
have, of this great poet, should be so meagre
and deficient : — ^and having formerly known
two gentlemen, who had been intimately ac-
quainted with him, I combined what I had
heard them say of him with what was already
known ; and taking his works for a general
guide — (and few speak more in their works
than Akenside does) — I have, I hope, been
enabled to give a correct and, perhaps, not
altogether an uninteresting outline of a
virtuous and high-minded man, gifted with
very considerable poetical powers.

The Reader will not expect me to give
more than it was possible to obtain. I hope,
he will rather thank me for what little I have
been able to collect of this eminent person ;
though I cannot but feel, that he must greatly
regret, that the subject did not fall into abler
hands.

London.
January i 1832.

ERRATA.

Page 186, 6 lines from bottom, deU Bowles.

192, 4 lines from bottom, ^r Edward, read Edmund.

ON THE

LIFE, WRITINGS, AND GENIUS

OP

AKENSIBE.

Mare Akenside * was born at Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, in the county of Northumberland, on the
9th of November, 1721. His father was a respect-
able butcher. His mother's name was Mary Lums-
den. They were both exceedingly strict in their
religious observances; and being in the habit of
attending a meeting-house, which had been then
recently erected in Hanover-square, their son was

* In all the editions of this poet^ since the sixth published
by Dodsley, 1763, the name has been invariably spelt Aken-
side ; but in the first edition of the Ode to the Earl of Hunt-
ingdon^ the orthography is Akinside, and the poet himself,
in his MS. dedication to Mr. Dyson (now first published)
subscribes his name in the same manner.

B

2 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

baptized by the minister, (the Rev. Benjamin Ben-
net,) about three weeks afterwards.

Akenside is said to have been, in after life, very
much ashamed of the comparative lowness of his
birth ; and it is, also, reported, that he could never
regard a lameness, which impeded his walking with
facility, otherwise than as an unpleasant memento
of a cut on the foot, which he received from the
fall of one of his father^s cleavers, when about seven
years of age.

Be this as it may, it is very certain that he had
a strong regard for the place of his birth; — and
even so late as the year in which he died, (1770)
he wrote some beautiful lines, commemorative of
the pleasure, he was accustomed to receive, in early
life, from wandering among the scenes of his native
river.

'* O ye dales

Of Tyne, and ye^ most ancient woodlands ! where
Oft, as the giant flood obliquely strides,
And his banks open, and his lawns extend.
Stops short the pleased traveller to view.
Presiding o'er the scene, some rustic tow'r.
Founded by Nokman or by Saxon hands."

No accounts have reached us, as to the number
of brothers and sisters he had : we only know^

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. S

from Brandos Observations on Popular Antiquities,
that he knew one of Akehside^s sisters, whose
name was Addison, then living in Newcastle ; and
that she possessed several drawings, her brother had
sketched at a very early period of life.

His parents having separated from the church,
Akenside, after some preparatory instruction at the
free-school of Newcastle, was placed under the care
of a dissenting minister, — Mr. Wilson, — who kept
a private academy in the same town ; by whom his
mind was early awakened to those impressions,
which seldom fail —

\

1

To render Nature pleasing to the eye^
And music to the ear*; — "

And that he was as feelingly alive to that most de-
lightful of all suffrages, — the applause of the wise
and good, — is evident from his Ode on the Love of
Praise ; than which Horace himself has scarcely one
more beautiful.

I.

'^ Of all the springs within the mind^

Which prompt her steps in Fortune's maze^
From none more pleasing aid we find^
Than from the genuine love of praise.

* Pleasures of Imagination, b. iii. 49S.

b2

LIFE OF AKENSIDE.
11.

Nor any partial private end

Such reverence to the public bears.
Nor any passion, Virtue's friend.

So like to Virtue's self appears.

HI.

for who in glory can delight.
Without delight in virtuous deeds ?

What man a charming voice can slight.
Who courts the echo that succeeds?

IV.

But not the echo or the voice

More, than on virtue, praise dependi^ ;
To which, of course, its real price

The judgment of the praiser tends.

V.

If praise, then, with religious awe
From the sole perfect Judge be sought,

A nobler aim, a purer law.
Nor priest, nor bard, nor snge hath taught ;

VI.

With which in character the same.
Though in an humbler sphere it lies,

I coimt that soul of human fame
The suffrage of the good und wise."

f _.. . II B^i

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 5

Thus, too, in his Ode on hearing a sermon preached
against Glory : —

" If to spurn at noble praise

Be the passport to thy heaven,

Follow thou those gloomy ways ;

No such law to me was given.

Nor, I trust, shall I deplore me.
Faring like my friends before me.
Nor a holier place desire,
Thau Timoleon's arms acquire.
And Tully's curule chair, and Milton's golden lyre."

Akenside indulged his natural taste for poetry
very early ; and, at the age of sixteen, sent to the
editor of the Gentleman^s Magazine a poem, written
after the manner of Spenser, entitled theViETUOSo;
the idea of which seems to have been taken from
the subjoined passage of Shaftesbury's Charac*
teristics *•

* " Hitherto there can lie no ridicule, nor the least scope
for satiric wit or raillery. But when we push this virtuoso
character a little further, and lead our polished gentleman
into more nice researches ; when from the view of mankind
and their affairs, our speculative genius, and minute examiner
of nature's works, proceeds with equal or perhaps superior
zeal, in the contemplation of the insect life, the conveniences^
habitations, and economy of a race of shelUJish; when he
has erected a cabinet in due form, and made it the real pat-
tern of his mind, replete with the i^me trash and trumpery

6 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

This poem is not only curious, as a juvenile pro-
duction, but as it serves to show how early the mind
of Akenside was impregnated with the sentiments
of that once celebrated writer.

Akenside did not think proper to republish this
poem in the collection of his works ; and yet, there
is not one stanza, of which he needed to have been,
in the slightest degree, ashamed. Indeed, it is a very
remarkable poem for so young a person. I shall
quote the first and last stanzas, with its motto from
Persius :

Videmus

Nugari solttos.

'^ Whilom by silver Thames' gentle stream.

In London town there dwelt a subtile wight ;
A wight of mickle wealth, and mickle fame,

Book-learn'd and quaint ; a Virtuoso bight
Dncommon things and rare were his delight ;

From musings deep his brain ne'er gotten ease ;
Nor ceasen he from study day or night ;
Until (advancing onwards by degrees)
He knew whatever breeds on earthy on air^ or seas."

of correspondent empty notions and chimerical conceits ; he
then^ indeed^ becomes the subject of sufficient railkry, and
is made ihejest of common oouversations."~CAarac^ert>^2W,
vol.iii. p. 156. Ed. 1737.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 7

^' The wight, whose brain this phantom's * power doth fiU^

On whom she doth, with constant care, attend.
Will for a dreadful giant take a mill f ,

Or a grand palace in a hogstye find % ;
(From her dire influence me may Heavn defend! )

All things with vitiated sight he spies -,
Neglects his family, forgets his friend ;

Seeks painted trifles and fantastic toys;
And eagerly pursues imaginary joys."

Akenside seems to have entertained a particular
contempt for virtuosos ; for he again, makes that
order of character a subject for ridicule in the third
book of his principal poem.

'* Behold yon mystic form.

Bedeck'd with feathers, insects, weeds, and shells !

*

Not with intenser view, the Samian sage
Bent his fixt eye on heaven's intenser fires.
When first the order of that radiant scene
Swell'd his exulting thought, than this surveys
A muckworm's entrails, or a spider's fang."

In the same year (viz. 1737) Akenside published,
in the same miscellany, a Rhapsody on the miseries
of a Poet, born to a low estate. This poem, as a
whole, is scarcely worthy of preservation ; but as

• Phantasy's.

t Alluding to a passage in Don Quixote ; ahout this time
translated into English.

X From a line in Machiavelli's Asino.

8 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

there are some passages, indicative of future excel-
lence, I shall quote them.

" Of all the various lots around the ball,
Which Fate to man distributes, absolute.
Avert, ye Gods ! that of the Muses' son.
Cursed with dire poverty. Poor, hungry wretch !
What shall he do for life ? He cannot work
With manual labour. Shall those sacred hands.
That brought the counsels of the Gods to light.
Shall that inspired tongue, which every muse
Has touched divine, to diarm the sons of men.
These hallow'd orgies — these ! be prostitute
To the vile service of some fool in pow«r.
All his behests submissive to perform,
Howe'er to him ungrateful ? Oh ! he scorns
Th* ignoble thought !"

The following passage, no doubt, alludes to an
order of persons, with whom the poet was, at this
time, compelled occasionally to associate.

^^ But 'tis in vain to rave at destiny.
Here he must rest ; and brook the best he can ;
To live remote from grandeur, learning, wit.
Immured among th' ignoble, vulgar herd
Cff lowest intellect; whose stupid souls
But half inform their bodies *'

The succeeding lines allude to the various de-
scriptions of poetry, in a manner very appropriate
and concise.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 9

" Upon his brow
Perplex'd anxiety^ and struggling thought^
Painful as female throes ! whether the bard
Display the deeds of heroes ; or the fall
Of vice in lay dramatic; or expand
The lyric wing; or in elegiac strains
Lament the fair ; or lash the stubborn age
With laughing satire"

After depicting the miseries of the poet, left
only to his own mental energies to sustain the loss
of friends, the want of a Halifax, of a Somers, or
of a Dorset, and the miseries of indigence, he closes
the theme with a striking admonition to himself.

'^ I hear my better angel cry, ' Retreat!
Rash youth, in time retreat I Let those poor bards>
Who slighted all,— all ! for the flattering Muse,
Yet cursed with piercing want, as land-marks stand.
To warn thee from the service ofth* ingrate*'"

The next poem, he sent to the Gentleman's Maga-
zine was a fable, illustrative of Content and Am-
bition ; and it is really not too much to say of it,
that it is almost worthy of being associated with
some of the translations which, a few years previous,
had been rendered from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

* I found this passage inscribed in pencil on the wall of
an inn at Cassel, in the department of the North, a few
months ago. It was, no doubt, written by some unfortunate
English votary of the Muses, then on his^ perhaps, compelled
travels.

10 LIFp OF AKENSIDE.

He fables, that, in times—

^* While yet the world was youngs and men were few.
Nor lurking fraud, nor tyrant rapine knew ;"

Content was the only acknowledged sovereign of
mankind.

«

Joy of all hearts^ delight of every eye.
Nor grief, nor pain, appear'd, when she was hy;
Her presence from the wretched hanish'd care.
Dispersed the swelling sigh, and stopt the falling tear.

At length, Ambition

" hellish fiend ! arose

To plague the world, and hanish man's repose."

This fiend, determining on the dethronement of
Content, all the vain, and lovers of novelty, flocked
to his standard : Content was, in consequence,
dethroned, and compelled to wander about the
world in search of a home.

One day, forsaken by every one, and destitute of
all things, she came to a cottage, roofed with turf.

'* Fast hy a gloomy, venerahle wood
Of shady pines, and ancient oaks, it stood."

In this retired cottage, bending beneath a weight
of years, a cheerful couple

had pass'd their life.

Thehushand Industry was call'd— Frugality the wife.*

i^n

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 11

This pair had many sons, whose occupation con-
sisted in cultivating the earth. They had also one
daughter, whose name was Plenty.

In former years, Content had occasionally
visited this cottage ; and being now stripped of her
dominions, she determined on seeking in it a refuge
from her misfortunes.

^' Arrived^— she makes her changed condition known;
Tells how the rehels drove her from the throne j"

and implores shelter from the tyeant. The aged
pair listened in sympathy to her misfortunes, invited
her into their cottage, and entreated her to take up
her abode in the bosom of their family.

In the meantime, Ambition having attained the
summit of his wishes.

Polluted every stream with human gore.

And scattered plagues and death from shore to shore.'

Offended at the evils thus entailed upon mankind,
Jupiter looked down with indignation and pity.
He desires Venus to dispatch her son, Cupid, to
repair to the palace of Ambition, and to strike him
with an ardent love for his former rival. Content.
Then he commanded Mebcuby to descend to the
regions of Pluto,

" To rouse Oblivion from her sahle cave ;*'

1^ LIFE OP AKENSIDE.

and enjoins her to draw around the abode of Con-
tent, a darkness equal to the

^^ 'deepest gloom of night.

To screen the Virgin from the Tyrant's sight;
That the vain purpose of his life may try,
Still to explore, what still eludes his eye'
He spake:— Loud praises shake the bright abode.
And all applaud the justice of the god."

This poem, and several others, Akenside did not
feel ambitious of acknowledging ; and they are in-
troduced here, not with an intention of advancing
his reputation, but as specimens of the poetical
power, he possessed, at an early period of life.

But though Akenside did not choose to associate
them with the fruit of his maturer years, he occa-
sionally alludes, and always with satisfaction, to the
time in which they were written. Thus in his
ode to his Muse, written many years after :

*' And now again my bosom bums ;
The Muse, the Muse herself, returns \
Such on the banks of Tyne, confest,
I hail'd the fair immortal guest.
When first she seaTd me for her own.
Made all her blissful treasures known.
And bade me swear to follow her alone/'

-^

LIFE OF AK£NSIDE. 13

Some of his productions, however, at this period,
seem to have touched on subjects, which he did
not, afterwards, approve ; at least, so we may con-
jecture from a passage in his second poem on the
Pleasures of Imagination.

<i What though first

In years unseason'd, — haply ere the sports

Of childhood yet were o'er, — th' adventurous lay.

With many splendid prospects, many charms.

Allured my heart ; not conscious whence they sprung,

Nor heedful of their end ? yet serious truth

Her empire o'er the calm sequestered theme

Asserted soon 3 while falsehood's evil hrood.

Vile and deceitful pleasure, she at once

Excluded : and my fancy's careless toil

Drew to the better cause."

While still a boy, he often, as we have before
observed, amused his leisure from the duties of
education, by wandering on the banks of the Tyne,
where he hailed the morning and evening sun with
all the enthusiasm of youth, and felt the impress
of poetical inspiration. He frequently alludes to
these moments of delight.

^^ Pierian maids !

Hear me propitious. In the mom of life.

When Hope shone bright, and all the prospect smiled^

14 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

To your sequestered mansion, oft my steps
Were tum'd, O Muses ! and within your gate
My offerings paid."

P. /. Second Poem, iii. 345.

Again, in his hymn to the Naiads : —

" The Muses (sacred by their gifts divine).
In early days did to my wondering sense
Their secrets oft reveal: — oft my raised ear
In slumber felt their music ; oft at noon.
Or hour of sunset, by some lonely stream.
In field or shady grove, they taught me words
Of power from death and envy to preserve
The good man's name."

About the age of seventeen he was frequently at
the house of a relative, at Morpeth ; and to the
enjoyments he there experienced, in studying the
works of Nature, he alludes in lines, perhaps, from
their associations, the most beautiful to himself, in
all his poems.

'^ O ye Northumbrian shades ! which overlook
The rocky pavement and the mossy falls
Of solitary W£nsbeck*s limpid stream.
How gladly I recall your well-known seats.
Beloved of old ; and that delightful time.
When all alone, for many a summer's day,
I wander'd through your cahn recesses, led
In silence, by some powerful hand unseen."

P. /. Second Poem, iv. 1. 38.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 15

Many poets have recorded the beauties of their
native stream ; and Armstrong, in a poem published
in the same year with that of Akenside, followed
the example.

" Such the stream^

On whose Arcadian banks, I first drew air,
LiDDAL ; till now in Doric lays
Tuned to her murmurs by her love-sick swains.
Unknown in song:— though not a purer stream
Through meads more flow'ry, more romantic groves.
Rolls towards the western main."

While at Morpeth, Akenside is supposed by
some to have written his Pleasures of Imagination.
But this is scarcely to be credited; though it is
not improbable, that many passages may have been
written there. His portrait of Dione, for instance.

€C

O bear, then, unreproved.

*Thy smiling treasures to the green recess.
Where young Dione strays ; with sweetest airs
Entice her forth, to lend her angel form
For beauty's honor'd image."

At the age of eighteen Akenside was sent to
Edinburgh, with a view of taking orders as a dis-
senting minister. In this resolution he remained
one year ; when he altered his intention in respect

16 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

to the choice of a profession^ and entered himself as
a student in medicine. The money, therefore, he
had received from the Dissenters^ Society, and which
it was customary for them to appropriate to the
education of young men of scanty fortune, designed
for their ministry, he afterwards returned.

He remained at Edinburgh as a medical student
two years, during which period he seems to have
made great progress. He was elected a member of
the Medical Society, was greatly respected for his
attainments, and became acquainted with several
youngmen, who afterwards distinguished themselves
in a very eminent manner ; amongst whom we may
J particularly mention Dr. John Gregory and Dr.

Robertson. And here we may with advantage in-
troduce a curious anecdote, related by Dr. Stewart,
in his Elements of the Principles of the Human
Mind *. " There are various passages in Akenside^s
works," says he, " which will be read with addi-
tional pleasure, when it is known, that they were
not entirely suggested by fancy. I allude to those
passages where he betrays a secret consciousness of
powers, adapted to a higher station of life than fell
to his lot. Akenside, when a medical student at

* Vol. iii. p. 501. 4to.

LIFE OF AKENSIDB. 17

Edinburgh, was a member of the Medical Society,
then recently formed, and was eminently distin-
guished by the eloquence which he displayed in the
CQurse of the debates. Dr. Robertson (who was at
that time a, student of divinity in the same uni-
versity) told me, that he was frequently led to
attend their meetings, chiefly to hear the speeches
of Akenside; the great object of whose ambition
then was a seat in Parliament ; a situation which, he
was sanguine enough to flatter himself, he had some
prospect of obtaining, and for which he conceived
his talents to be much better adapted than for the
profession he h^d chosen.''

What the circumstances were, which could justify
the ambition of Akenside, it is now too late to in-
quire. Perhaps it was merely a sally, arising out
of a consciousness of oratorical power, and which
power he possessed to the last year of his life ; but
to this hope Dr. Stewart supposes he alludes in one
of the stanzas in his Ode to Sleep.

<c

Nor yet those awful forms present

For chiefs and heroes only meant.

The 'figured brass^ the choral song^

The rescued people's glad applause.

The listening senate^ and the laws

Fix'd by the counsels of Timoleon's tongue^

C

18 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

Are BoeQes too grand for Fortunes priTate w«jb:
And though they shine in youth's ingenuous view^
The soher, gainful arts of modem days
To such romantic thoughts have had a long adieu."

Stanza 4.

The scene had altered ; experience had slept in ;
the world had taught him a lesson ; and the more
sober ambition had visited his imagination of de-
siring such dreams, as those, which animated the
eyelids of Mead and Milton.

'* But Morpheus ! on thy halmy wing
Such honourable visions bring.
As soothed great Milton's injured age -,
When in prophetic dreams he saw
The race^ unborn^ with pious awe
Imbibe each virtue from his heavenly page;
Or such as Mead's benignant fancy knows^
When health's deep treasures, by his art explored.
Have saved the infant from an orphan's woes.
Or to his trembling sire his age's hope restored."

In the yeai, previous to his journey to Edin-
burgh, Akenside wrote a poem, entitled a British
PhiUppick; a satire, occasioned by the preparations
for the war, which were then making, in conse^
quence of the insults, the country had received from
Spain. This poem is remarkable for little, if 'we

LIFE OP AKENSIDE. 19

except the spirit of patriotism in which it was
composed.

During his residence at Edinburgh, he is, also,
supposed to have written his Hymn to Science, and
an Ode on the Winter Solstice. The Hymn to
Science was not inserted in any collection of his
poems till 1793. The cause of this omission I have
not been able to discover. The hymn itself^ is so
far from being unworthy the genius of its author,
that it is not a praise too unmeasured to assert,
that it is even worthy the lyre of Collins. The
12th and 18th stanzas are particularly beautiful.

" That last best eflfbrt of thy skill.
To form the life and rule the will.

Propitious Pow r ! impart :
Teach me to cool my passion's fires.
Make me the judge of my desires.

The master of my heart.

Raise me above the vulgar's breath.
Pursuit of fortune, fear of death.

And all in life that's mean ;
Still true to reason be my plan.
Still let my actions speak the man.

Through every various scene."

Has Horace or Gray any thing superior to
this ?

The Ode on the Winter Solstice he soon after
improved into another ode ; both of which are ge-

c2

^ LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

nerally printed in succession. There are fine pas-
sages in both ; but the second is, I think, far su-
perior to the first. The late Miss Seward of Lich-
field says, in one of her letters, that she regularly
read it every winter.

Some have supposed this ode to have been written
in Holland; but the following stanza seems to
justify those^ who believe it to have been written in
Scotland.

'^ But lo ! on this deserted coast^
How faint the light, how chill the air !
Lo! arm'd with whirlwind, hail, and frost.
Fierce Winter desolates the year,
The fields resign their cheerful bloom.
No more the breezes breathe perfume \
No more the warbling waters roll ;

Desarts of snow fatigue the eye ;

Successive tempests bloat the sky.
And gloomy damps oppress the soul/'

There are some fine passages in this ode ; but it
cannot be denied, that, in pathos and sublimity, it
is much inferior to the Dirge of Bcjens ; written, I
have somewhere read, one evening after perusing
the ode by Akenside :

a

The wintry west extends his blast.
An' hail an' rain does blaw ;

Or the stormy north sends drivin forth
The blindin sleet an' snaw:

LIFE OF AK£NSIDE« SI

While tumblin brown^ the burn comes down^

An' roars frae bank to brae;
An' bird an' beast in covert rest,

An' pass the heartless day.

' The sweeping blast, the sky o'ercast ♦,'

The joyless winter-day,
. Let others fear :— to me more dear

Than a' the pride o' May.
The tempest's howl; it soothes my soul;

My griefs it seems to join :
The leafless trees my fancy please 5

Their fate resembles mine.

Thou Pow'r Supreme ! whose mighty scheme

Thiese Woes of mine fulfil ;
Here^ firm, I rest ; they must be best.

Because they are thy will !
Then all I want (O do thou grant

This one request of mine I)
Since to etfjoy thou dost deny.
Assist me to resign."

After a stay of three years, Akenside removed
to Leyden, in farther pursuit of medical knowledge ;
and there had the good fortune to form a strict and
never-sleeping friendship with a young man of
family and fortune, who was prosecuting the study
of civil law in that university. This gentleman's
name was Dyson ; and to him Akenside was in-
debted for most of his subsequent ease in life.

• Dr. Young.

«'

N

22 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

At Leyden he began, if I mistake not, to me*
thodize the great poem, he had begun ; and it is
probable that he communicated the manuscript to
his new friend, Mr. Dyson ; from whom he had
the benefit of receiving advice, unbiassed by any
desire of being esteemed a critic; — an inestimable
advantage to any one engaged in high designs,
whether in literature, legislation, or politics. This,
I think, is evident from the following passage : —

'* Nor to truth's recess divine^

Through this wide argument's unbeaten space.
Withholding surer guidance ; while, by turns,
We traced the sages old, or while the queen
Of Sciences (whom manners and the mind
Acknowledge) to my true companion's voice.
Not unattentive, o'er the wintry lamp
Inclined her sceptre favouring."

P. /. second Poem, i. 1. 62.

At Leyden, too, he may be supposed to have
written his Hymn to Cheerfulness, the most po-
pular of all his minor poems : — in reading which
we cannot refuse to accede to the opinion of Hume,
that a cheerful disposition is worth ten thousand a
year. In no part of his works is the poet seen to
more advantage; and it is impossible to read it
without imbibing a belief, that he was, — when nei-
ther insulted or otherwise ill-used, — the kindest

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. ftS

fdend and most favourably disposed to administer
to the happiness of others, of all human beings.
The following passage reminds us of the grand
moral of the Pleasures of Imagination,

'< O thou ! whose pleasing pow'r I sing.
Thy lenient influence hither hring.
Compose the storm^ dispel the gloom.
Till Nature wears her wonted bloom.
Till fields and shades their sweets exhale.
And music swell each op'ning gale !
Then o'er his breast thy softness pour.
And let him learn the timely hour.
To trace the world's benignant laws.
And judge of the presiding cause;
Who founds on discord Beauty's reign,
Converts to pleasure every pain.
Subdues each hostile form to rest.
And bids the universe be blest."

After remaining three years at Leyden, Akenside
was admitted to the degree of doctor of physic,
(May 16, 1744) ; and in conformity to the custom
of Dutch universities, published a thesis on the
original and growth of the Human Foetus ; a dis-
sertation which gained him great credit * ; as the
opinion, he suggested, departed in many particulars
from the one then received, and has been the one
almost universally acted upon since.

* Johnson.

24 LIFE OF AKENStDE.

Previous to leaving Leyden he bade farewell to
a country

" Which Pan, which Ceres never knew.
Nor ever mountain zephyr hlew,"

in an ode, the best stanzas of which are those, in
which he celebrates his native country.

Having completed the relative objects of their
voyage to Holland, the two friends, Dyson and
Akenside, embarked in the same vessel at Rotter-
dam, and arrived safely in London, after an agree-
able but protracted voyage. On their arrival, the
one took to the bar, and became a constitutional
lawyer; the other, of course, resorted to physic.
This contrast of occupation is elegantly touched
upon in the second poem on the Pleasures of Ima-
gination.

-" Now the Fates

Have other tasks imposed. To thee, my friend !

The ministry of Freedom, and the faith

Of popular decrees in early youth.

Not vainly they committed. Me they sent

To wait on pain, and silent arts to urge

Inglorious, not ignohle ; if my cares.

To such as languish on a grievous hed,

£ase, and the sweet forgetfulness of ill

Conciliated—nor delightless, if the Muse

Her shades to visit, and to taste her springs, —

J

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 25

If some distinguish'd hours the bounteous Muse
Impart, and grant (what she and she alone
Can grant to mortals), that my hand those wreaths
Of fame, and honest favour, which the bless'd
Wear in £lysium, and which never felt
The breath of envy or malignant tongues.
That these my hand for thee and for mysdf
May gather."

P. /. Second Poem, L 68.

The Pleasures of Imagination being completed,
Akenside sought the earliest importunity of publish*
ing it. It was sent, in consequence, to Dodsley,
with a demand of one hundred and twenty pounds
for the copyright. This demand, we are told,
being higher than Dodsley chose to give hastily, he
carried the manuscript to Pope, and requested ad-
vice. Pope looked into it, says Johnson (who had
his information from Dodsley himself), and per-
ceiving its merit, told him ^^ to make no niggardly
oflTer/' since " this was no every day writer.^

Dodsley immediately closed with the author ; and
the manuscript was placed in the hands of Richard-
son, the celebrated author of Pamela, Sir Charles
Grandison, and Clarissa Harlowe, to print; and
here, though written some years after, we may in-
troduce one of the few letters, which remain of this
elegant poet. It is still preserved in manuscript,

% LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

among the papers of Dr. Birch, at the British
Museum ; and though containing no information of
importance, yet to those, not accustomed to matters,
relative to errors of the press, it may serve to show
the anxiety of an author, when he discovers any
error, too late to be rectified.

** To Mr. Bichardsorif in Salisbury'-'Couri, Fleet-streeU

<« SiE — I return you many thanks for sending
me the sheet, about which I wrote to you. I find
in it an erratum^ and of that unlucky sort, which
does not make absolute nonsense, but only conveys
a false and absurd idea. The sheet is marked T t ;
and in page 328 and line ninth from the bottom,
stream is printed instead of steam. If you can,
without much trouble, print this as an erratum, or
rather let some one with a stroke of a pen blot out
the r, as the sheets are dried, I should be greatly-
obliged.

" I am/ Sir, with true respect,

" Your most humble servant,

" M. Aeenside.
** Bloomshury Square, Jan, S5."

The poem being suited chiefly for the highest
order of readers, it is not a little surprising, that it

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 27

should have arrived^ at once, at the zenith of a
fame, from which , like most other works popular
in their day, it has never declined. All readers,
however, were not satisfied ; and, among the rest,
Gray. For when Dr. Wharton, of Old Park,
near Durham, wrote to him, a few weeks after
the publication, in what manner it was esteemed
at Cambridge, Gray, in a hasty reply*, told him,
that he wondered, he should ask an opinion, as to
what the Cambridge men thought, since many of
them, who pretended to judge things, did not judge
at all; and those, who were wiser, gave no judg-
ment, till they heard those pronounced by the fre-
quenters of IHck^s and the Rainbow CofPee-houses.
** However," continued he, " to show you, that I
am a judge, as well as my countrymen, I will tell
you ; diough I have rather turned it over than read
it (but no matter; no more have they), that it
seems to me above the middling; and now and
then, for a little while, rises even to the best, par-
ticularly in description. It is often obscure, and
even unintelligible ; and too much infected with the
Hutchinsonian jargon. In short, its great fault is,
that it was published at least nine years too early ;

* Dated A{cil ^6, 1744.

S8 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

and so, methinks, in a few words, k la mode du
Temple, I have very pertly dispatched what, per-
haps, may for several years have employed a very
ingenious man, worthy fifty of myself

That Akenside occupied a rank, below Gray as
a lyric poet, (though his ode to the Earl of Hunt*
ingdon would place him on the same elevation
in the opinion of many), is, I think, not safely
to be doubted : but that he had a more brilliant
imagination, a truer impulse, a finer touch of musical
expression, and a more exquisite sense of nature on
the lofty impulses of mind is, I think, as little to be
denied ; since the poetical merit of Gray (always
excepting his unequalled Elegy), seems to have
consisted chiefly in a mature wisdom of selection,
and a masterly arrangement of other men's ideas ;
that is, he knew diamonds, when he saw them in the
quarry; he knew equally well how to polish them ;
and he had an equal judgment in setting them to the
best advantage. No one of his age, therefore, had a
mind, mcnre capable of appreciating Akenside, than
he had. I, therefore, think it more than probable,
that when he read the Pleasures of Ima^nation with
greater attention, than merely " turning over the
leaves^ (since Akenside is not to be appreciated but
after a third reading), this accomplished critic, as

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 29

well as poetf must have altered his opinion ; and I
think (but of that I am not quite certain), that the
late Mr. Meyrick told me as much. Be this, how-
ever^ as it may, it is very certain, that the poem rose
into immediate estimation ; and has ever since heed
considered by most competent judges, one of the
finest and most classical productions in our lan-
guage.

Mr. Meyrick, whom I have just now mentioned,
was a very remarkable person. He was a sur-
geon and apothecary, retired from business, and
past eighty when I first knew him; yet he had
all the hilarity of youth. He knew, at least he
had seen, all the eminent literary characters of the
time in which he lived; and was full of anecdote,
more particularly in respect to their distresses. He
frequently called in Akenside; whom he visited
as a friend, and recommended as a physician.
" We were not very much like either,^ said the old
gentleman ; ^^for he was stiff and set; and I all life
and spirits. He often frowned upon me in a sick
room. He could not bear to see any one smile in
the presence of an invalid ; and, I think, he lost
a good deal of business by the solemn sententious-
ness of his air and manner. I wanted to cheer

so LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

patients up!*^ Mr. Meyrick knew Aaustbong,
also^ the author of the Art of Preserving Health.
*< He ruined himself,'' said he, " by that foolish per-
formance of his, the Economy (tf Love. How, in
the name of heaven, could he ever expect that a
woman would let him enter her house again, after
that? The man was a fool ! He, who undertakes
to be a physician, must be chastity itself,''

Akenside and Armstrong published their prin-
cipal poems in the same year. They appealed to
the consent of mankind in opposite directions. For
if the poem on the Pleasures of Imagination
is rich in materials, and brilliant in imagery and
versification, the Aux of fbesebving Health
is as remarkable for its simplicity of style, and a
total rejection of ornament. Their success as poets
is said to have equally retarded their success as
physicians. They associated occasionally ; but their
characters never assimilated. Akenside was solemn
in manner, but engaging and polite ; except when
unwarrantably put upon, when he became irritable,
though never overbearing. Armstrong relapsed
into a morbid sensibility, the languid listlessness of
which is said to have damped the vigour of his
intellectual efforts to that degree, that some have

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 31

even ventured to suppose, that he sat for the
following picture in Thomson's Castle of Indo-
lence.

*' With him was sometimes join'd in silent walk^
(Profoundly silent^ for they never spoke)
One shyer still, who quite detested talk \
If stung by spleen, at once away he broke
To groves of pine, and broad o'ershadowing oak:
There, inly thrill'd, he wander'd all alone.
And on himself his pensive fury wroke ;
He never utter'd word, save when first shone
The glittering star of eve — ' Thank heaven ! the day is done!'

n

When Thomson's Castle of Indolence appeared,
Akensidewas in raptures with it. Mr. Meyrick
had his copy. Many stanzas were marked very
emphatically ; among the rest the following —

'' I care not, fortune, what you me deny:
You cannot rob me of free nature's grace ;
You cannot shut the windows of the sky.
Through which Atirora shews her bright'ning face y
You cannot bar my constant feet to trace
The woods and lawns by living streams at eve."

Akenside's poem was published anonymously.
There was, therefore, no dedication ; but the fol-
lowing still exists in MS., prefixed to the first
edition in quarto, which the poet presented to Mr.

82 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

Dyson, whose modesty, I suppose, would not permit
it to appear.

ViRO C0NJUNCTIS8IM0

jEREMiiE Dyson,

YITJE, MOKUMQUE SUORUM DUCI^

RERUM BONARUM SOCIO^

8TUDI0RUM JUDICI,

CUJUS AMICITIA

MEQUE SANCTIUS HABET QUICQUAM^

NEQUE OPTAT CARIUS;

HOCCE 0PU8CULUM

(VOS, TYRANNORUM IMPURA LAUDE8

ET 8ERTILIUM BLAMDlMENTA POETARUM,

ABESTE PROCUl)

bat, dicat^ c0n8ecratque

Marcus Akinside^

xvii Calendas Jan. A. M. C. MDCCXLIV,

Some few years after the publication of this poem,
it was translated into French, and afterwards into
Italian. The French translation having been ren-
dered in prose* can, of course, give French readers

* This translation was first published, anonymously, at
Amsterdam in 1759, prefaced in the following manner.

'' Ce pdeme parut, en Angleterre pour la premiere fois en
1744; il y jut re^u avec Ms grands applaudissements ;
ton en a fait depuis un grand nombre d^ editions, on a cm
que Von en verroit avec plaisir la traduction en Francois ;
rien na HS omis pour quelle Jut exacte, cependant on seui

LIFE Of AK£N3ID£. SS

but a very imperfect idea of a poem, one chief ex-
cellence of which consists in the splendour of its
versification. The translator was Baron d^Holbach,
$i Member of the Academies of St. Petersburg,
Manheim, and Berlin, who died at Paris in 1789 ;
after enjoying the friendships of Helvetios, iJiderot,
d^Alembert, Marmontel, Condillac, Turgot, Buffon;
and Rousseau. He was author of many works on
mineralogy^ chemistry, and natural history.

The translation into Italian is by the Asbate
Akgelo M azza. This translation is a very scarce

sent que la prose tie pent rendre quefoiblement les beauth de
la poesie. Tin sujet tel que les Plaisirs de F Imagination, dc"
mandoH d, itre traiU avec chaleur et enthousiasme ; Von naura
rien a reprocher a VoMteur de ce c6tS la* Uivresse poetique
et fespece de desordre qui regnent dans son ouvrage, semble~
roient metne convenir plutot dune ode quh un Poeme Epique;
ce qui a fait dire plaisamment a Milord Chesterfield, que ce
livre Stoit le plus beau de cevx quit nentendoit pas, Cepen"
dant pour peu quon y fosse attention, on trouvera que cet air
de desordre est peut^etre un effet de tart, et sert d couvrir
une liaison plus grande que le premier coup d^oeil nen pro-
mettoit^. Le choix des comparaisons, la noblesse des pein^
tures, la pompe des expressions que Vauteur, a rSpandues
a pleines mains dans son poeme, sont de nature d plaire d
toutes les personnes qui auront de la sensibilite et du goUt;
la phiiosophie, paree des ornemens des arts, en devient plus
propre h exercet son empire sur les hommes"

D

S4 LIFE OF AKENSIDfi.

book in this country. The only copy, I have been
able to procure a sight of, is that in the library of
George the Third, presented to the British Museum,
by his late Majesty, George the Fourth. Speci-
mens will be given in several subsequent pages.

Mazza was bom at Parma, Nov. SI, 1740; but
he was educated at Reggio. He went afterwards
to Padua, and thence to Venice ; where he produced
his translation. In 1768 he was called to the chair
of Greek Literature at Parma. He subsequently
Removed to Bologna, where he published a transla*
tion of Pindar^s Odes: soon after which he was
admitted into the Arcadian Academy at Bome. He
died in 1817.

The subject matter of Akenside's poem is so
strikingly condensed, that it must ever be a work
of great difficulty to a translator. We ought not,
therefore, to be surprised at the diffuseness of
Mazza's translation ; the aggregate of which may
be shown by the number of lines in each*

Original Poem,

Italian Translation,

Book I. 604 lines.

764 lines.

11. 771

944

III. 633

783

9008 3491

LIFE OF AKEMSIDE. 35

The Pleasures of the Imagination was publish^
with the following passage (as a motto), froti
Epietetus apud Arrian, ii. 93.

The poem having been published anonymously,'
a person named Rolt, an author of some vanity
and preteridioh, went, it is said, to Dublin, and there
published an edition of it in Ins own name ; 6n
the fame of which he lived for several months.
Boswell, who gives this anecdote in his life of
Johnson, says, that Akenside, being informed of
this, '^ vindicated his right, by publishing the
poem with its real author^s name.^ In a note,
however, the biographer states, ^^ I have made in«
quiry in Ireland as to this story ; but I do not find
it recollected there. I give it on the authority of
Dr. Johnson; to which may be added the Bio-
graphical Dictionary, and the Biograpfaia Dra-
matica ; in both of which it has stood many yeairs.
Mr. Malone observes, that the truth, probably, is,
that an edition was not published with Holt's name in.
the <itle-page ; but that the poein b^ing anotiy mous,

d2

S6 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

Rolt acquiesced in its being attributed to hinr in
conversation*/'

Shortly after the publication of this poem,
Akenside published a never-dying satire on Mb,
PuLTENEv; who, from being idolized as the best
and firmest patriot of his age, suddenly sacri-
ficed all his popularity for the vulgar consideration
of an empty title "|-, without ofiice, without influ-
ence, or the least substantial advantage. ^^ Doubt^
less,^ says the historian j;, " he flattered himself
with the hope of one day directing the councils of
his sovereign; but this was never accomplished;

* Rolt was engaged in many literary undertakings^ none of
which are now remembered. Churchill^ however^ mentions
him in the Rosciad.

^' Secret as nighty with Roll's experienced aid.
The plan of future operations laid."

He was author of

Eliza, a musical entertainment, set to music by Dr.
Ame.

AiMENA, an opera, set to music by Dr. Ame. The story
is from the Persian.

The Royal Shepherd; an opera, from Metastasio, who
formed his plot on a passage in Quintus Curtius. Lib. iy.
c 3, 4.

t The Earldom of Bath. ^ Smollett, xix. 79.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 37

and he remained a solitary monument of blasted
ambition.^'

The indignation of the public, at the weakness
of Mr. Pulteney, was almost beyond precedent;
Akenside partook of it; and, in consequence, in ah
epistle to Curio, d^d not hesitate to stigmatize the
disgraced patriot as the betrayer of his country.

This epistle he afterwards altered into an ode ;
and both are generally printed in a collection of
his poems; but the original far transcends the
copy. There are, in the ode, some fine lines ; but
Johnson, as he frequently does, speaks idly, when
he pronounces it to be disgraceful only to the
author.

The following passage from Cicero was prefixed
to it, by way of motto : " Neque tarn uldscendi
causa diocij qaamt ut et in prcesens sceleratos cives
timore ab impugnanda patria detinerem; et in
posterum, documentum statuerenif neguis tcdem
amentiam veUet imitari^

In the mean time, the fame of his great poem
spread widely among persons of taste; but some
observations having appeared in one of the notes, in
conformity to Shaftesbury's opinion, that ridicule
is the test of truth, Wakburton thought proper
to make some severe strictures on that opinion, in a

88 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

postscript, prefixed to a new edition of that stu*
pendous monument of misapplied learning — the
Pivine Legation of Moses*

In this postscript Warburton classed Akenside, as
a poet, in the same rank with Lord Kaimes (>yho in
his Elements of Criticism had espoused the same
argument*), as a critic. " The poet,*' says he, " is
a follower of Lord Shaftesbury's fancies ; the critic
a follower of his own. Both men of taste, and
e{][ually anxious for the wdl-dping of ridicule."

This postscript gave great offence to Akenside ;
and his friend, Mr. Dyson, who seems to have
understood the duties of friendship better than the
canons of philosophy, armed in defence of him, and
wrote an " Epistle to the Rev. Mr. Warburton^
occasioTied hy his treatment cf the author of the
Pleasures of Imaffiimtion" We may judge of the
style of this letter by the following extract :

^' Notwithstanding the pains you have taken to dis-
courage men from entering into any controversy with
you ; and notwithstanding the severe example you have
just been making of one^ who^^ as you fancied^ had pre-
sumed to call you to account ; you must still be content
to be accountable for your writings; and must^ once
more^ bear the mortification of being actually called to

* Part V. chap. vii. xii.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE, 39

aocoimt for them. It is the preface to jour late Remarks,
that you are now called upon to justify ; in which you
have thought fit to treat upon a mighty free footing (as
you style it, but in the apprehension of most people^
upon a yery injurious one)^ the ingenious and worthy
author of the poem^ entitled ' The Pleasures of Imagina-
tion/ The favourable reception and applause, that
performance has met witb^ render it unnecessary, and
indeed impertinent, for me to enlarge in its praise ;
especially as you, sir, have not condescended to enter
into a particular censure of the poem. However, by
some general hints, scattered up and down, as well as
by the affectation of perpetually styling the author our
poet, you have let us see how you stand affected towards
it. Whether it be, indeed, that dull, trivial, useless
thing, you seem to represent it, I shall not dispute with
you ; but am content to have, as to this point, Mr. War-
burton's judgment staked against the general reputation
of the poem. The point I am immediately concerned
with, is, your unbecoming treatment of the author;
which, as it is so interwoven through the whole course
of your preface, as to be sufficiently evident without the
, all^ation of repeated passages ; so we shall find there
are not wanting repeated instances of direct and noto-
rious ill usage ; — such usage as, though the provocation
bad been ever so just, and the imagined attack upon
you ever so real, would have yet been unwarrantable ;
, and which, therefore, cannot admit of the least shadow
, of an excuse, when it shall appear, that you had really
no provocation at all."

40 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

To this letter Warburton never replied.

The indignation of Akenside, and the zeal of
Mr. Dyson, were a little too unmeasured ; for the
critic did not attack Akenside as a man, nor as a
poet ; he merely designated him a follower of Lord
Shaftesbury ; and an apologist for an opinion, that
has now long been given up as untenable. Indeed
the argument is, in itself^ a species of the ridiculous.
For who employs ridicule so often as half-informed^
half-witted, insolent, and conceited persons F If ri-
dicule, therefore, is a test of truth, these half-in*
formed, half-witted, insolent, and conceited persons
are the best judges of the most serious and sacred
things *.

♦ " Ridicule may befriend either truth or falsehood ; and
as it is morally or immorally applied^ may illustrate the one^
or disguise the other. Yet it should seem, that the moral is
more natural, than the immoral application of ridicule; in^
asmuch as truth is more congenial to the mind than false-'
hood, and so, the real more easily made apparent, than the
fictitious images of things. * * *

'^ Ridicule, therefore, being of a vague, unsteady nature^
merely relative to the imaginations and passions of mankind,
there must be several orders or degrees of it, suited to the
fancies and capacities of those, whom the artist attempts to
influence.

*' But however ridicule may impress the idea of apparent
turpitude or falsehood on the imagination ; yet still reason

LIFE OF AKKNSIDE. 41

The subject of ridicule, indeed, is, in this poem,
an intrusion ; and that the author himself thought
it so, may be inferred from his having, in the
second poem, curtailed the subject so much, that
what, in his first, occupies two hundred and seven
lines, is reduced in the second to only fifty. The
statement as to the final cause, however, is the same
in both*.

Akenside, I believe, was occasionally given to
ridicule ; and in return was himself ridiculed by a
class of persons, with whom it was no great honour
to be associated. Smollett did all he could against

remains the superior and corrective power. Therefore, every
representation of ridicule, which only applies to the fancy
and affections, must finally be examined and decided upon,
must be tried^ rejected, or received, as the reasoning faculty
shall determine ; and thus ridicule can never be a detector
of falsehood, or a test of truth."— ^roi^n'* Essays on the
CharcLcteristics of the Earl of Shaftesbury*

See Characteristics, i. p. 30, 31, 61 ; also 11, 12, 128, 129.

For Warburton's opinion, see Divine Legation of Moses,
vol. i. X. xviii. xxxvii. xxxix.

Horace sums up the power of ridicule in one of those
concise periods, of which he was so great a master.

Ridiculum acri

Fortius et melius magnas plerumque secat res.

The power of ridicule is admitted y but that power is very
different from the test.

4S LIFE OF AKENSIDE,

him in this way, in his novel of Peregrine Pickle ;
to which he is said to have been prompted by a
, pique *, he had taken, in consequence of Akenside's
having made some reflections against Scotland.

We may here, perhaps, be excused for intro-
ducing a curious anecdote, in respect to Smollett,
As he was one day going out of Paternoster-row
up Warwick-lane leading to Warwick-square, a
butcher came out of his slaughter-house with a
dead sheep upon his back : " Get out of the way,*'
said the butcher, ^^ or I'll slam this ship in your
face." At this moment SmoUett^s foot slipped, and
catching hold of the butcher's arm to save his fall,
both fell in the gutter, which was streaming with
blood from the slaughter-houses. The butcher re-
covered himself first, and in iising gave Smollett a
violent blow in the face with his bloody fist. Poor
Smollett scrambled up as well as he could, all co-
vered with gore ; got into a shop, and there remained
till a coach was procured to carry him home. He
then resided in a court leading out of Dean-street,
Soho. When he arrived, the children of the neigh-
bourhood, seeing a man streaked with blood get out

• See lyisraeli's Cakmities of Authors, voL ii. 2. " Aken-
side's mind and manners/' says the author, '< were of a fine^
romantic cast"

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 43

of the coach, surrounded the house^ and the whole
place was kept for some time in a state of suspense
and confusion. A constable was sent for to search
the house, where the bloody man had been taken ;
and it was a long time before the crowd could be
pacified and dispersed. Smollett lodged there only
a few weeks after ; during which time he was fre-
quently hailed by the children, ** There goes ike
bloody num.'*

Hearing that an opening for a physician pre-?
sented itself at Northampton, Akenside went thither
with an intention of establishing himself. But Dr.
S.tonehouse being in full practice, as he found soon
after his arrival, and not relishing, as the vulgar
saying is, the art of waiting for dead men^s shoes,
he returned to London after a stay of about a year
and a half; and the only interesting circumstance,
^nnected with his residence there, is an account,
furnished us by Dr. Eippis ; who ^ys, that when
he resided at Northampton^ he well remembered
hearing Dr. Doddridge and Dr. Akenside carry on
an amicable debate ^< concerning the opinions of the
ancient philosophers, with regard to a future state
of rewards and punishments ; in which Akenside
supported the firm belief of Cicero in particular, in
this great article of natural religion.^

44 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

This argument calls to our recollection an asser-
tion of Dr. Doddridge on another occasion, that
** men of contrary parties sit down more attached
to their own opinions than they were at the begin-
ning, and much more estranged in affection."

As we have no data, on which to build any opinion
as to the precise time, in which several of Aken-
side'^s odes were written, we are left to our own con-
jectures ; and as AHenside had much leisure during
his stay at Northampton, we may naturally suppose
that he engaged no small portion of that leisure in
literary occupation. To this leisure, perhaps, there-
fore, we may be indebted for his ode on '* Lyric
Poetry;'*' for that on ** the Uses of Poetry ;" and
for that to " the Muse."

The first of these odes has always been classed
with the sublime. The characters of Anacreon,
Alcaeus, and Pindar, are finely drawn ; but that of
Sappho is injudicious ; and the more so, since the
prophecy was not fulfilled.

*' Why is my faithful maid distrest?

Who^ Sappho^ wounds thy tender breast ?

Say^ flies h6 ? soon he shall pursue :

Shews he thy gifts ? He soon shall give :

Slights he thy sorrows ? He shall grieve^

And soon to all thy wishes bow."

St. ii. 1.

LIFE OF AK£NSIDE. 45

The simile,

" As eagles drink the noontide flame/'

St. ii. 2.

is far-fetched ; and the idea in a preceding stanza is
in a manner not superior to that of Waller :

^' His cheek displays a second spring
Of roses^ taught by wine to bloom/'

St I 2.

But his allusions to himself are always in the
best style of egotism. That in the last stanza is
little inferior to any similar instance in Cassimir
or Buchanan.

In respect to the ode " on the Influence of
Poetry," Akenside seems to have been, at all times,
deeply impressed with the important influence of
that powerful art on the manners, happiness, and
opinions of mankind. This is amply testified in
this ode, as well as in that to his Muse ; and still
more strictly inculcated in the episode of Solon, in
the third book of his second poem on the Imagina*
tion, which seems to have been expressly written to
prove the same result.

Finding Northampton not to afford any advan-
tageous opportunity for the exercise of his me-
dical talents, Akenside returned to London; and

46 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

soon after Mr. Dyson bought a house at North-
endf Haropstead ; and with a view of introducing
his friend to the more opulent inhabitants, he fre-
quented with him the long room, and all the clubs
and assemblies. He, also, had the extraordinary
generosity to allow him three hundred pounds a
year, till he should be able to live by his practice,
like a gentleman.

And now we have leisure to make a few remarks
on Akenside'^s sensibility to the softer sex. He
never married ; but in the ode he wrote about this
time, viz. that to Sir Francis Henry Drake,
Bart. — there is a stanza, remarkable for its allu-
sion to a lady, whom he styles Olympia r-^

*' Thy stubborn breast^

Though touch'd by many a slighter wound.

Hath no full conquest yet confest.

Nor the one fatal charmer found. /

While I, a true and loyal swain.

My fair Olympia's gentle rdgn

Through all the varying seasons own ;

Her genius still my bosom warms.

No other maid for me hath charms ;

And I have eyes for her alone."

St. viii.

Previous to this, however, the poet seems to have
entertained an affection for a young lady, Whom

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 4*7

he alludes to in the second book of the Flea*
sures of Imagination, under the name of Pae-^
THENiA ; and who seems to have died at a time
when he was about to be married to her. At least,
such must be our impression on reading the fol-
lowing passage :

■ '* Of good and evil much^

And much of mortal man^ my thought revolv'd ;

Wlien starting full on fancy's gushing eye^

The mournful image of Pabthenia's fate>—

(That hour^ O long heloved and long deplor'd !)

When hlooming youths nor gentlest wisdom's arts^

Nor Hymen's honours gather'd for thy brow^

Nor all the lover's^ all the father's tears,

Avail'd, to snatch thee from the cruel grave^*—

Thy agonizing looks^ thy last farewell^

Struck to the inmost feeling of my soul^

As with the hand of death !"

P. /. B. ii. 191.

Who Farthenia was, and who Olympia, it is now
useless to inquire. He nowhere mentions their real
names, and his biographers have not only neglected
to inquire^ but even to be unconscious, that such
persons ever existed.

His love for Olympia, at the time he resided
at Hampstead, seems to have been in an early
stage ; little, if any thing, more than iriendship :
but in a subsequent ode he lets us into the secret,

48 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

that friendship is but too often another name for
love:

** Once 1 remember^ new to love.
And dreading his tyrannic chain,
I sought a gentle maid to prove
What peaceful joys in friendship reign,
Whence we^ forsooth, might safely stand.
And pitying view the lovesick band.

And mock the winged boy's malicious hand.

Thus frequent pass'd the cloudless day.
To smiles and sweet discourse resigned ;
While I exulted to survey
One generous woman's real mind ;
Till friendship soon my languid breast
Each night with unknown cares possest,
Dash'd my coy slumbers, or my dreams distrest.

Fool that I was !— and now, e'en now.
While thus I preach the stoic strain,
Unless I shun Olympia's view.
An hour unsays it all again.
O friend ! — when love directs her eyes.
To pierce where every passion lies.
Where is the firm, the cautious, or the wise?"

The poet seems to have forgotten the manner in
which he had ridiculed the lover in former times *;
as well as the tone, he had assumed, in his Ode to a
friend, unsuccessful in love -|-.

* See P. I., B. iii. ITO.

t This friend was Mr. Edwabds, whom we shall have

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 49

In his Elegy on Love we are let a little more
into the real state of things :

'* Too much my heart of beauty's power has known.
Too long to love hath reason left her throne ;
Too long my genius moum'd his myrtle chain.
And three rich years of youth consum'd in rain."

To this subject we shall return at a future op-
portunity. At present we must turn to a less
pleasing one ; that of a friend of Akenside having
taken a causeless jealousy against his wife, for some

innocent freedoms, in which she had indulged;
such as walking, one evening, home from a party

occasion, hereafter, to mention in a more particular manner.
The state of his mind may be easily conjectured from a
sonnet, he addressed to Mr. Wray, on this unfortunate
occasion.

'' Trust me, dear Wray, not all these three months' pain.

Though tedious seems the time in pain to wear;
Nor all those restless nights, through which in vain

I've sought for kindly sleep to lull my care;
Nor all those lonely meals, and meagre fare,

Uncheer'd with converse, and a friendly guest,
This dose confinement, barr'd from wholesome air.

And exercise, of medicines the best.
Have sunk my spirits, or my soul oppress'd.

Light are thesefwoes, and easy to be borne;
If weigh'd with those, which rack'd my tortur'd breast,

MHien my fond heart from Am o bet was torn :
So true the word of Solomon to find,
* ^0 shaft so piercing as the wounded mind.' "

E

BO LIFE or AKENSlDil.

with a gentleman, who offered to escort her, and
whom she had known almost from infancy. His
name was Thurloe* Akenside^s friend was a gen-
tleman, with whom he had become acquainted at
Edinburgh ; but whose name I do not remember.

This friend, in his distress, did not fail to apply
to Akenside for advice ; and the poet, learning
how little he had to build his suspicions upon,
remonstrated with him strongly on the cruelty of
subjecting his family to the consequences of so
odious an imputation ; and, as a still farther cau-
tion, wrote him an ode against the dangers of sus-
picion. The first five stanzas of this ode are very
powerful ; and remind us, strongly, of several pas-
sages in Othello.

" Oh fly ! It 's dire Suspicion'^ mien.
And, meditating plagues unseen.

The Sorceress hither hends ;
Behold her torch in gall imhru'd ^
Behold^her giprment drops with blood

Of lovers and of friends.

Fly far ! already in your eyes
I see a pale suffusion rise ;

And soon through every vein.
Soon will her secret venom spread.
And all your heart, and all your head,

Imhihe the potent stain.

Urs OF AKENSIDX; 51

Th«n many a demon will she nuae>
To vex your (deep, to haunt your ways;

While gleams of lost delight
Baise the dark tempest of the brain.
As lightning shines across the main

Through whirlwinds and through night.

No more can faith or candour move;
But each ingenuous deed of love.

Which reason would applaud.
Now smiling o*er her dark distress.
Fancy, malignant, strives to dress

Like injury and fraud.

Farewell to virtue's peaceful times ;
Soon win you stoop to act the crimes.

Which thus you stoop to fear.
Guilt follows guilt ; and where the trun
Begins with wrongs of such a stain.

What horrors form the rear !"

The closing stanzas are very l)eautiful :

*^ O thou ! whate'ar thy awful name,
Whose wisdom our untoward frame

With social love restrains;
Thou ! who, by fair affection's ties,
Giv'st us to doable all our joys.

And half disarm our pains;

Let universal candour still.
Clear as yon heaven-reflecting rill.
Preserve my open mind;

E 2

52 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

Nor this^ nor that man's crooked ways
One sordid doubt within me raise.
To injure human kind *•"

In 1746, Akenside wrote his ode to the Evening
Star ; an ode, which, though it recalls to our me-
mory Collins^ Ode to Evening, can never be read
without pleasure ; particularly the following stanza :

*' Oh I think o'er all this mortal stage,

'Wliat moumfu] scenes arise ;
What ruin waits on kingly rage;
How often virtue dwells with woe ;
How many griefs from knowledge flow ;

How swifdy pleasure flies."

This stanza calls to our recollection a still more
beautiful one in Gray's poem on the Pleasures
arising from Vicissitude.

'* Still where rosy pleasure leads.
See a kindred grief pursue ;
Behind the steps that misery treads.
Approaching comfort view :

* Mr. Alison quotes three stanzas from this ode (vi. vii.
ylU.) '^ in which," says he, ** a scene, which is, in general,
only heautiful, is rendered strikingly suhlime, from the
imagery with which it is connected."— Qf Me Nature of the
Emotions of Beauty and Sublimity, p. 19, 20, 21.

LIFE OF AKENSIBE. 53

The hues of bliss more brighdy glow.
Chastised to sober tints of woe : *
And^ blended, form, with artful strife.
The strength and harmony of life."

In this year Akenside sent a paper, which he
had written in imitation of the 81st number of the
Tatler, and which he entitled the Table of Mo->
BERN Fame, to Dodsley for insertion in a periodical
work, he was then publishing, entitled the Museum,
It is a curious and interesting paper ; and I ascribe
it to Akenside on the authority of Warton, who,
in a note to a passage in Pope ^, characterizes it as
a paper of great taste and judgment.

THE TABLE OP MODERN FAME.

A VISION.

" Last nighty after leaving the company^ where I had
spent the evenings I took up a volume of the Tatler^ to
conclude the day. I happened to light on that admired
paper f ^ where the most celebrated personages of anti-*
quity are represented at the table of Fame. I was very
agreeably amused with the venerable assenihly, and the
pleasing manner in which they are introduced ; till I had

* See his Edition of Pope^ vol. ii. 83.
t No. 81.

54 U FE 0F AtdfiffSnOB.

formed my own mind td tMt composure and stillness^
ivliicli is the best preparatire to a happy repose.

'' As soon as I fell asleep^ methought I was walkings
in an immense plain^ where I met a figure of great dig-*
nity^ representing a man in the full vigour of his stge,
dothed in a purple garment^ with a rod of silver in his
hand. He accosted me: and I learned from his dis-
course^ that he had formerly lived upon our earth ; but
tliat now he was raised to the enjoyment of that felicity^
which God had appointed for the reward of prudence
and virtue^ * I see^' said he^ ' young man^ that you
are just returned from the mansion of Ancient Fame ^
and I perceive by your countenance that you have not
been thoroughly satisfied with the goddess of the place^
or with the order of that assembly^ over which she pfe-^
sides. You mortals are prone to imagine^ that the
smiles of Fame are always bestowed according to the
suffrage of Virtue ; but in this you find you are mistaken.
If your curiosity incline you to inquire into the manage^
ment of Modern Fame^^ the younger sister^ follow me,
and I will conduct you to her abode/

"Immediately he led me to a very spacious build-
ing, of a mixed and crude sort of architecture^ where^
though I admired the expensiveness of the materials^
yet the ornaments, methought, were ill designed, and
of a vulgar taste; like a clumsy ungrace^l person,
dressed out in jewels and embroidery. I was partico*
larly disgusted to see among the ancient festoons of
flowers, pipes, and musical reeds, which were adjusted
to the columns of the temple, mitres, and triple crowns,
crosiers, and other ensigns of ecclesiasticEil discipline.

LIFE OF AKENSriDE* 55

This building was summnded with an innomeraUe
crowd of people; and at each of the spadoos dQon>
which opened on every side of it, I observed a tall> ma-
jestical woman^ attended with a crowd of figures^ some
like men with large volumes in their hands, and others
i^sembling the descriptions which poets have given. us
of the Musks. These women^ as my conductor informed
me, were the guardians or genii of the several nations of
the world. The historians and the Muses were for ever
flMving from one to anothelv y^t, I observed, that they
never visited some of the gates, where the women were
almost naked, 6r dressed in turbans and painted fea-
thers.

'^ We entered the temple : — at the upper end sate the
goddess, on a throne of a very uncommon structure. It
was composed of different materials, laid up in a beau*
tiful architonick manner. I observed, that inHitarv in-
.tounents, as .Undards, swords, and pieces of «3ery,
most frequently appeared in the architecture; yet I
likewise cast my eye on telescopes, rudders, painting
pallets, geometrical schemes, and instruments of handi-
craft. By the looks and motions of people within the
temple^ I guessed that we were come just in time to be
present at some great ceremony; for I observed the
Muses and historians stepping ever and anon from some
or other of the gates, and whispering the goddess, who
gave each of them directions, which I coiild not hear.
I asked my conductor the purpose of this great pre-
paration ; and what meant the twenty thrones which I
counted round the temple, and why some of them were
quite empty, while others were laid hold of by certain

56 LIFE OF AKfiNSlD£*

persons^ who stood behind them^ as if they were waiting
for leave to sit down.

' '^ He answered me in the following manner : ^ You
are come from the table of Ancient Fame. The goddess
there disposed of her honours without reserve or condi-
tional change : her youngest sister is not so constant.
Once in every century she reviews her assembly, and
frequently makes great alterations^ removing her sub-
jects from one seat to a lower, or a higher ; admitting
strangers^ or entirely excluding her former favourites.
To-day is the anniversary of her great establishment :
the empty seats formerly belonged to those whom she
has now entirely banished from her palace. Those per-
sons, whom you see standing behind some of the thrones,
have leave to renew their claim ; and if no other candi-
dates obtain their place, will continue in the order which
formerly belonged to them.*

^^ While he was speaking, the goddess rose from her
seat, and commanded the several nations in her pre-
sence to introduce their candidates in the order which
she had enjoined them. Upon this all the crowd of
spectators disappeared^ and the temple was left quite
empty. After a short pause, the trumpet of the goddess
sounded ; the whole fabric shook ; and my heart was
filled with a rapture and astonishment which I never
felt before.

^ammediately the temple was crowded again, and from
the uppermost gate entered the most beautiful of those
divine women, the Genius of Italy. She led in a
middle-aged man. in a very plain dress, who held in his
hand a mariner's compass. The spectators, whose coun-

LIFE OF akenside; 57

tenances expressed the most impatient suspense^ gave a
confused acclamation, and I beard at once from a hun-
dred mouths the name of Columbus. He advanced
towards the goddess, and sat down on the highest placed
With an air of ease ; as if that seat had long been fa<i
miliar to him. ' That/ said my conductor, ' is the man
who has enabled history to outdo fable: nor are the
actions of the Grecian Hercules, either for greatness of
imagination, or for boldness, or utility, comparable to
the discovery of the new world ; yet, perhaps^ you will>
this day, see another take place of him/

" The trumpet sounded a second time :— ^while I was
expecting some other personage from the gates nearest
to the goddess, I obiBerved a great hurry at the very
lowest end of the temple. A woman, whom I had
before taken notice of amcmg those, who appeared almost
naked and wild, advanced from her gate in a robe of
furs, and other skins, and approached towards the god-
dess. The genii at the upper end expressed a mixture
of surprise and indignation, that so savage a figure
should now dare to step before them. As she drew
near, I observed the person whom she conducted; he
was a robust man in armour, with his own hair, a black
eagle on his breast, and a carpenter's axe in his hand.
I knew his habit, and "vnth the crowd pronounced hastily
the name of Peteb the Great. He sat down on the
second throne, and I could not help applauding the
justice of the goddess.

*' The third person who appeared was conducted by
the representative of Italy, but the moment he set his

08 LIFE OF AKBNSIDE;

£)ot within the temple, the Muses and all the attendant
powers from the other gates ran up at once to usher
him. He seemed between thirty and forty years of age.
The lyric, the comic, and the h^oic muse, a winged
virgin with a lyre, anothar with a pallet, a third with a
chisel and block of marble, and an infinite number of
beautiful young figures, did him honour as he passed^
He returned their congratulations with smiles of the
bluest oom^ceuce, .and seemed pleased with hia intro^
ductiony chiefly as it secured him such amiable compa-
nions. By his "pontifical robes I knew him for Lbo X;

'' But our next.penonage was uidiered in a very dif-
ferent manner. . He entered from the German gate; a
great noise of disputants and logical terms preceded him ;
his face had a very bold, eager cast ; his eyes were
keen, and bis dress monkish. When he ^eame to mt
down, seeing Leo on the throne next abovehim, he fell
into a violent rage, and would needs have rose, again.
Leo, on the other hand> turned from him with a smile
of high, contempt, and begged of the -beautiful powefBi
who stood around him, that they would * hide that rude
creature from his eyes, and defend his ears with their
harmony, £rom the jargon which he. uttered/

'^ I was vexed at his being thrust into so unsuitable a
neighbourhood^ and asked my guide, who he was ? ' His
name,' said.he, ^is MARTur Lutber. He has done
more good to mankind, than most of those, whose inten-
tions were the best and most heroic; his character, his
views, and passions, were contemptible and hateful.
Remember what I told you — ' Fame does not proceed

UFB OF AKBNSIDS; 59

en lihe award of wisdom or virttte ; but is g07«med
solely by the revolutiona of mortal things*/ '

*^ I was angry and disappointed^ that I had yet seen
none of my countrymen, when the tniibpeti sounded, and
I beheld a figure entmng from one of the upper gates,
with a red cross upon ber shield, leading a venerable
man in the decline of life. I remembered the face of
SteB IsAAO Newtok* He advanced in a very composed
manner, without speaiking a word, ot seeming to take
notice of the acclamations, which came from every part
of the temple.

'^ All eyes were fixed upon him, and all were proud,
that they had seen him: yet I observed' a man at the
French gate, dressed in a very gaudy, fantastic habit,
who repined bitterly, that his place was taken from
him^ while the guardian deity of its nation seemed ta
be musing upon a thonisand JBchemes how to regain it.

* '^ Fame is not determined, nor is it ever determinable,
by a right judgment of men and things, A conqueror of
kingdoms, who puts thousands to death, and reduces ten
times their number to poverty and want, rises so high in
fame, that the remotest posterity never mention his name,
but with admiration and raptures The generality of the
world cannot distinguish acciiratdy between splendour and
greatness^ and, therefore, the plurality o£ the voices would^
doubtless, be in favour of military heroes." — Trailer, Nb^ Bh
note.

*^ The opinions, declared in this paper, are not opinions of
characters, but opinions of reputations; the decisions are
not with regard to merit, but with regard to fame, and the
refusal of the one is no denial of the other." — Ibid^

60 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

There was a man^ too, wHo advanced impudently from
the German gate; and would have driven Newton, by
force, from his seat. He was a very odd figure, with a
nightcap on his head, a mathematical diagram in one
hand, and a bottle of Rhenish in the other. The goddess
ordered him to be chastised fcnr a robber, and turned out
with in^Etmy.

'^ At the next trumpet, the gay lady, whose robes
were flowered with lilies, left her favourite, Descartes^
about whom, till that moment, she had been so solicitous^
and turned to introduce a tall, graceful man, who
walked along in a full-bottomed wig, with infinite self-
applause. When he saw Leo, he made a very oom->
plaisant bow; yet, as Shakspeaire says, he quenched
his familiar smile, with an austere regard of control.
I suppose it was Louis the Fourteenth, and com-
plained to my guide, that such a man should be so
honoured. * Have patience,* said he ; ' meet me here
a hundred years hence, and you shall see the goddess
order him underground, to the house of Evil Fame. At
present she must have her way. Look round, and see
if you are better satisfied with him, who comes next/
I saw a composed matron-like figure bring in a man in
armour, with signs of the highest veneration and grati-
tude. * That,' said my conductor, ^ is WiiiLiAM I.,
Prince of Orange; a name, that must be venerable
upon your globe, as long as public virtue is remembered
among you ; and of this divine man, I can prophesy^
that he will never lose his place. The youth, who is
now entering, will, perhaps, give you more pleasure ;
and indeed though his merits and actions are not of so

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 61

high a kind^ yet his Tirtue shone^ perhaps^ in a more
severe trials in a course of aninterrupted prosperity ; so
that if his times had given him an opportunity^ he was
equal to any thing, which can be acted by a man and a
soldier.'

^' I looked around^ and beheld^ from the English gate>
a young man in armour^ with a spear of ebony^ and
beautiful as Raphael or Milton could imagine. ' You
neednot^' said I^ ^ tell me who this is: I see the motto
of Wales on his shield^ and the sable spear in his
hand^ which has rendered the name of Edward^ or
of PiiANTAGENBT^ uselcss. All hail! thou blameless

ornament of my native country •' I was going on

in a kind of enthusiasm^ when my conductor checked
me^ and bade me take notice of the next^ who entered.
I found a greater noise and disorder^ than I had observed
before. Germany and Spain had joined to introduce a
coarse^ robust man ; and France endeavoured to place
before him a tall^ majestic person, with a crown on his
head>' who looked upon his antagonist with an air of
reproach and disdain. This was Fbangis I. However^
his opponent got the better^ and took his place ac-
cordingly. By the imperial eagle> which he wore on
his breast^ I supposed it to be Charles V. At sitting
down, he laughed at his adversary-—^ and,' says he, ' if
I must have given way, it should never have been to that
doubty, romantic knight, my prisoner; but to this great
man, who gave me immortality,' pointing to Titian, who
stood in the crowd of his attendants.

^' The next person, that entered, was dressed in a
morning gown, and ushered in by the Lady of the Red

62 tIFE OF AKBNSIDE.

OrosB. He had no 83rmbol nor iasthimeat in his hand ';
but shewed a very thoughtful and penetrating connte*
nance. He widked up in profound silence, and mad^
no retum> but a look of grave displeasure, to the saluta-
tion of his ne3ct neighbour. However, he took very
respectfol notice of s6me dt the table ; particularly of
Cohimhui and Nemtmu Leo seemed afraid of him ;
Luiher made him a very gracious bow, and would have
been extnemely intimate DHth him ; but received a cold
and forbidding finrwn. By this account of him, the
reader will know as well as I did, who saw ^hat passed,
that this was Looks. The next entraiwe was made
fimm the RaUdn gate, and there appeared a thin, meagre
mail, whoBd countenance ejrpressed great pain and de-
jection of itpirit, as if he had been worn out by famine
imd torture* ^ He lield in his hand a telescope ; and my
conductor told ine it was Gai^iIbo, whose &ce retained
indelible marks of the blind, brutal, aeal of his ghostly
tormentors.

**. He sat down by Locke^ who seemed infinitely pleased
with his company; and told bim that he had been en-
deavouring to cure mankind of that stupid reverence for
mffiims and murderers, who masked their inhumanity
with the name of religion.

'^Afiter the next trampet there was a loi^ pause, and
nebody appeared. I heard a great bustle at the German
gate. The goddess asked what was the matter. The
robust German tutelary made, answer, that she was in"
troducing one, who, if useful discoveries could chal-
lenge respect in that place, was, perhaps, entitled to the
highest seat. Immediately I heard wwda of a very

Itf'E OF AK6NSIDE. 63

rough sound. Guttenberg^ Ftt^ty Mentz, Strashurgh!
I t^eiir understood that the crowd of Germans^ at that
gate;, were disputing which of them should enter as the
discoverer of printing. The contest continued a long
tisie^ and grew still more violent^ upon whidi the
goddess spoke out^ that when they could agree ahout
the inventor^ she would frankly allow his claim; but
that^ till then^ she would put in his place one> whose
merit and whose glory was now unquestionaUy esta^
blished^ aftar as great disputes about it^ as had ever
divided her subjects. .

• ^' Upon this she made a sign to the red-cross lady>
who accordingly introduced a yenerable old man^ whom
I did not at aU know. He was attended by a female
figure with a patera in her hand^ resembling the ancient
figures of SedMs. I was surprised at the sight of an
English worthy^ with whom I wie not acquainted ; but
my guide informed me^ that his name was Harvey i
* and see/ says he> ' how enviously those other tutelar
genii regard him ;' pointing to France and Italy,

*' The trumpet again sounded^ and the guardian of
Italy moved. As soon as she returned^ there was a con->
fused noise of Evil Fame ! and downward with khn I a
great herd of priests and monks> and prime ministers^
joined in the cry ; and amongst them there was a young
man> with a crown on his head^ who made the loudest
noise^ and who assured the goddess of Fame^ that the
person coming in was an abandoned profligate^ and that
he himself had a much better title to the next vacant
seat.

" The goddess looked on him with great contempt^

^'

64 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

and bid him hold his peace^ else she would order him
below stairs^ and put him again under his father's
tuition. At this he was silent^ and Machiavbl ap«
peared. Leo gave him a very familiar look^ as if he waa
glad to see him^ and congratulated him upon the honour^
which he had now obtained^ of being seated at the same
table with one of the great feimily^ who had been bis old
patrons. But Machiavel answered him only with a look
of shame^ dislike^ and indignation. The Italian geniua
moved again towards the gate^ and returned with two
men^ not being able to resolve which of them should
enter. These were Tasso and Abiosto. She herself
inclined chiefly to the latter ; but the majority of the
spectators opposed it, and Tasso took his place.

'* At the next trumpet the tutelary of France went
out with the assured air^ that was natural to her^ and
brought in a tall^ slender man^ in a large wig, with a
very fine sneer upon his face. 3he said his name was
BoiLEAu; and that nobody could pretend to dispute
that place with him. However^ the stately genius of
England opposed her. Her remonstrances prevailed,
and FoPE took the place^ which Boileau thought be-
longed to him. Upon this there arose among the other
genii a great clamour against the red-cross lady, mixed
with many signs of ridicule and scorn. She asked what
they were displeased at, that she should contend so
eagerly for her own glory^ and yet so obstinately reject
a claim, upon which she might best found it ; and which^
whenever she advanced it, they would all give way to.
She turned round, and saw Bacon ready to ejiter,
without asking her to conduct him. She looked at him

-^^

^

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 65

with great dii^st; yet with such an air as a tender
mother discovers^ when her favourite child is guilty of
some inexcusable fault. She led him in with great
reluctance^ and shewed him his place^ the next vacant
one below Pope. He stood^ and looked upon it ; and
all the spectators seemed ashamed that he had not a
higher seat. Locke^ Newton, Harvey, and Machiavel,
all cried out to Pope, * Do rise, and give place :' but he
took no notice of them^ only he turned his head another
way; and I heard him mutter the words, ^ wisest ,
brightest, meanest,' Upon this Bacon looked around,
and drew the eyes of all the assembly. His presence, at
that time, had an effect upon them, like the presence of
a descended god upon those mortals, whom he favours
with his converse. Then raising his head, * Sure I am,'
said he, ' that if there be any place belonging to me in
this assembly, it must be one, nearest to the goddess ;
and one, where I may best avail myself of her power.'

'' Immediately the assembly, with one accord, invited
him forward ; the goddess beckoning him to draw near ;
and seated him on the highest throne. Columbus him-
self officiously gave way; telling him ^ that the discovery
of a new world was but a slender acquisition of crude
materials, to be improved and perfected in that immense
world of human knowledge and human power, which
he had first discovered, and through which he had taught
other mortals to travel with security.*

*' The next that entered, was a man in iron armour,

with a basket-hilted sword. France, Germany, and

Italy turned pale at the sight of him ; and I heard

them whisper the name of Gustavus Adolphus. He

F

66 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

was followed by a beautifdl youths of a very sweet and
gentle aspect. As he drew nearer^ I knew him to be
Raphael. Leo heard of his admission with an ex-
travagant joy^ and could hardly be restrained firom
quitting his place, that he might sit next him. Then
appeared a blinds old man^ with the air of an ancient
prophet^ supported and led in by the genius of England.
When I knew him I was extremely discontented^ that
no more honourable place had been reserved for Milton.
' You forget/ said my conductor^ ' that the lowest place
in this assembly, is one of twenty^ the most honourable
gifts^ which Fame has to bestow among the whole
human species. Milton is now admitted for the first
time^ and was not^ but ^vith difficulty admitted at all.
But have patience for a few years longer : he will be
continually ascending in the goddess's favour^ and may,
perhaps, at last, obtain the highest, or at least the second
place in these her solemnities. In the mean time see
how he is received by the man, who is best qualified
here to judge of his dignity/

'^ I looked at him again, and saw Raphael making
him the most affectionate congratulations, accounting
himself happy, that he was seated next to him, and in-
sisting on his taking the superior hand.

*^ There now remained but one place to be disposed
of. The tutelar deity of Spain led in, towards it, a
slender man, with black piercing eyes, an aquiline nose,
and a swarthy complexion. He had lost one of his
hands, by which mark I knew him to be Cervantes.
He expected no opposition, as the place had formerly
belonged to him; but in this point he was mistaken.

1^ ,

LIFE OF AKENSID£. 67

For Moliere advanced from the French entrance^ and
disputed the chair, with infinite pleasantry and good-
humour. Cervantes, however, kept his place ; but while
their controversy was hardly yet decided, a third candi-
date appeared, with a great shout of clamorous mirth
from the whole assembly. They told me, he had brushed
in by stealth, and in spite of the grave lady, who con-
ducted his countrymen. I knew the arch leer, the nut-
brown bays, and the Foppington step of my facetious
fnend, CoUey Gibber. But his appearance, his argu-
ments, and the eloquence with which he delivered them,
quite disjointed the remainder of my dream, and I
waked in a very hearty fit of laughter*."

It is very remarkable, that in this vision the
author should have omitted the greatest of his
countrymen, Suakespeaue ; and the more so,
since, from several passages in his works, we are
left in no doubt as to the manner, in which he ap-
preciated that wonderful poet.

The year 1746 was rendered, also, interesting to
Akenside by his having produced his Hymn to
THE Naiads. Johnson superciliously passes over,
as unworthy of being read, not only Akenside's
odes, but even this truly elegant hymn — a hymn
so entirely classical, that we have not one more

* Museum, No. xiii. Sept. 13, 1746.

f2

68 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

SO in our language ; hence Lloyd, with great pro-
priety, in allusion to Homer's hymns, which he
had once an intention of translating, says — " They,
who would form the justest idea of this sort of
composition among the ancients, may be better in-
formed, by perusing Dr. Akenside^s most classical
Hymn to the Naiads, than from any translation of
Homer or Callimachus.^

The beauties of this hymn, the title of which,
perhaps, gave birth to Dr. Southey's beautiful
Hymn to the Penates, are too numerous and
too well known to warrant quotation. The passage
beginning with

j(

Haunt beloved of sylvan powers^

Of nymphs and fauns," &c. &c.
seems to be derived from a passage in Lucretius

*^ Haec loca capripedes Satyros, nymphasque, tenere
Finitumei fingunt : et Faunos esse loquuntur,
Quorum," &c.

De Rerum NcUura, iv. 584.

Or, perhaps, more immediately from Martial :

*' Seepe sub hoc madidi luserunt arbore Fauni
Terruit et tacitam fistula sera domum ;
Dumque fugit solos nocturnum Fana per agros,
Saepe sub hac latuit rustica fronde Dryas/'

Ep. lib. ix« 69. xii. 11.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 69

The lines, beginning with

'' Thooe powerful strings^

That chann the mind of gods/' &c.

illustrative of the effects of sacred music among the
gods, is taken from the first Pythian ode of Pindar.
The translation is very beautiful.

The notes to this poem indicate a considerable
share of learning ; and are, no doubt, helps to the
unlettered ; but to the learned, I should suppose,
they must operate as incumbrances. That, how-
ever, in which the poet gives an account of what he
intended, in the construction of his hymn •, is very

* '^ Cyrene was the native country of Callimachus, whose
hymns are the most remarkable example of that mythological
passion^ which is assumed in the preceding poem, and have
always afforded particular pleasure to the author of it^ by
reason of the mysterious solemnity with which they affect
the mind. On this account he was induced to attempt
somewhat in the same manner, solely by way of exercise ;
the manner itself being now almost entirely abandoned in
poetry : and as the mere genealogy, or the personal adven-
ture, of heathen gods could have been but little interesting
to a modem reader, it was, therefore^ thought proper to
select some convenient part of the history of nature : and to
employ these ancient divinities, as it is probable, they were
first employed, to wit, in personifying natural causes, and in
representing the mutual agreement or opposition of the cor-
poreal and moral powers of the world, which hath been
accounted the very highest office of poetry."

70 LIFE OF AKCMSIDE.

important; and ought continually to be borne in
mind by the critic, as well as by the general reader.
Hampstead could not be suited to a man like
Akenside. The inhabitants were respectable and
rich; but many of them were not only respect-
able and rich, but purse-proud, and, therefore,
supercilious. They required to be sought; their
wives and daughters expected to be escorted and
flattered; and their sons to be treated with an
air of obligation. It is no diflScult task for an
elegant man to flatter beautiful women and cele-
brated men ; but to be subservient to those, who are
already too vain and supercilious, aiid who assume
in proportion as they are flattered and yielded to,
is not only beyond the practice, but even beyond
the honest patience, of a man enriched by nature
and embellished by education *. After residing two

• This observation naturally reminds me of the fate of
Dr. Sewell, author of a tragedy, entitled Sir f Falter Raleigh,
who died at Hampstead in 1726 ; and whose melancholy fate
is thus related by Mr. Campbell, author of the Pleasures of
Hope: —

'^ He was a physician at Hampstead, with very little prac-
tice, and chiefly subsisted on the invitations of the neigh-
bouring gentlemen, to whom his amiable character made him
acceptable ; but at his death not a friend or relative came to
commit his remains to the dust. He was buried in the
meanest manner, under a hollow tree, that was once part of

UFE OF AKENSIBE. 71

years and a half at Hampstead, therefore, Aken-
side returned to London, and took up his abode
in Bloomsbury-square^ where he continued to live
during the remainder of his life. He was now about
seven and twenty.

^^ In London,'* says one of his biographers,
** Akenside was well-known as a poet ; — but he had
still to make himself known as a physician :'' — and
he would have been put to great straits, had not
the generous friendship of Mr. Dyson enabled him
to preserve the appearance of a gentleman. These
two friends seem to have acted strictly in the cha-
racter of ancient times ; so well delineated by those
writers, to whose works they were so peculiarly de-
voted, viz. Plato, Cicero, Plutarch, Marcus Anto-
ninus, and Epictetus (in Arrian).

Akenside's friend took every opportunity of in-
troducing him ; and being a man of fortune and
high respectability, the natural consequence was a
due appreciation of Akenside's merit, — as a phy-
sician and a man of elegance,*— by many persons of
superior station.

In 1747, having heard a sermon preached, in

the boundary of the churchyard of Hampstead. No me-
morial was placed over his lemains"^ Specimens of the
Poets, V. i.

7S LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

which the reverendjdivine declaimed, in a very
urgent manner, against Glory, he wrote an ode in
opposition to the exhortations of the preacher. Part
of this ode must be again quoted ; not only because
it instructs us, as to the poet*s opinions on that sub-
ject, but because it will serve as a proper introduc-
tion to another subject, which seems once to have
engaged some portion of his ambition.

" Come^ then, tell me, sage divine !
Is it an offence to own
That our bosoms e'er incline

Toward immortal glory's throne ?
For with me, nor pomp, nor pleasure^
Bourbon's might, Braganza's treasure.
So can Fancy's dream rejoice.
So conciliate Reason's choice.
As one approving word of her impartial voice.

If to spurn at noble praise

Be the passport to thy heav'n,
Follow thou these gloomy ways :

No such law to me was given.
Nor, I trust, shall I deplore me :
Faring like my friends before me.
Nor an holier place desire.
Than Timoleon's arms acquire.
And Tully's curule chair, and Milton's golden l3rre.*'

TiMOLEON seems to have been, of all others in
ancient times, the hero, that most engaged Ake^-

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 73

i^ide^s admiration ; and he extended that admiration
even so far, as to have meditated the writing an
epic poem, of which that illustrious patriot should
be the hero. This project he alludes to in the last
stanza of his ode on Lyric Poetry.

^' But when from envy and from death to claim

A hero bleeding for his native land^
When to throw incense on the vestaFs flame

Of liberty my genius gives command^
Nor Theban voice, nor Lesbian lyre
From thee, O muse ! do 1 require^

While my presaging mind.
Conscious of powers she never knew,
Astonish'd grasps at things beyond her view.
Nor by another's fate submits to be confined."

Akenside told Warton *, that he alluded, in the last
line, to the Leonidas of Glover, which he looked
upon as a failure.

Pope had once the same design ; and the same
subject had also been proposed by Lord Melcombe
to the author of the Seasons. Why Pope dropped
his intention does not appear ; the reasons of Thom-
son are thus stated in a letter to Lord Melcombe -(-•
" If any thing could make me capable of an epic
performance, it would be your favourable opinion in
thinking so. But (as you justly observe) that must

* VVartQn*6 Pope, ii. 73. Ed. 1797. t Oct. 24, 1730.

74 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

be the work of years, and one must be in an epic
situation to execute it. My heart both trembles
with diffidence and burns with ardour at the thought.
The story of Timoleon is good as to the subject
matter : but an author owes, I think^ the scene of
an epic action to his own country; besides, Timoleon
admits of no machinery ; except that of the heathen
gods, which will not do at this time of day. I hope
hereafter to have the direction of your taste in these
affairs ; and in the meantime will endeavour to ex-
pand those ideas and sentiments, and in some de-
gree to gather up that knowledge, which is neces-
sary to such an undertaking.''

Why Akenside did not prosecute the design he
meditated, we have now no means of ascertaining.
Perhaps, he considered the difficulty of the sub-
ject; or he might feel some reluctance to engage
further in pursuits, that might obstruct the prac-
tice he was solicitous, at this time, to obtain.
This, I think, may be inferred from a passage in
his Ode to Sleep.

*' Oh let me not alone complain.
Alone invoke thy power in vain !

Descend, propitious, on my eyes ;
Not from the couch, that hears a crown.
Not from the courtly statesman's down.

Nor where the miser and his treasure lies :

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 75

Bring not the shapes^ that hreak the murderer's rest.
Nor those, the hireling soldier loves to see^

Nor those which haunt the bigot's gloomy breast ;
Far be their guilty nights, and far their dreams from me.

Nor yet their awful forms present.
For chiefs and heroes only meant ;

The figured brass, the choral song,
The rescued people's glad applause.
The listening senate, and the laws,
Fixd by the counsels of Timoleons tongue.
Are scenes too grand for Fortune's privaie ways ;

And though they shine in youth's ingenuous view.
The sober, gainful, arts of modem days

To such romantic thoughts have bid a long adieu."

. Akenside had been admitted, by mandamus, to a
doctor'^s degree at Cambridge ; he became a fellow
of the Royal Society ; and was elected a fellow of
the Royal College of Physicians. Mr. Dyson, on
the other hand, had entered himself at one of the
Inns of Court, and been called to the bar. But in
the early part of this year (1747), hearing that Mr.
Hardinge had the intention of retiring from the
clerkship of the House of Commons, he entered
into a treaty with that gentleman, and purchased
the situation for six thousand pounds. And here
I cannot deny myself the pleasure of citing a very
striking characteristic of Mr. Dyson, from HatselFs

76 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

Precedents of the Proceedings of the House of
Commons.

On the 15th of February Mr. Dyson took his
seat at the table *. " By virtue of his office,'' says
Mr. Hatsell, " the clerk has not only the right of ap-
pointing a deputy to officiate in his stead, but has
the nomination of the clerk assistant, and all the
other clerks without doors. Formerly the appoint-
ment to these offices made a considerable part of
the clerk's income, as it was the usual practice to
sell them. But when Mr. Dyson came to the office
of clerk, (though he had purchased this of Mr.
Hardinge for no less a sum than six thousand
pounds,) he, with a generosity peculiar to himself,
and from a regard to the House of Commons, that
the several under-clerkships might be more pro-
perly filled, than they probably would be, if they
were sold to the highest bidder, first refused this

• " On the 10th of February, 1747, the Speaker acquaints
the House of Commons with a letter he had received from
Nicholas Hardinge, Esq. clerk, in which he informs him^
that he had resigned the office ; — Mr. Speaker also acquaints
the House, that his Majesty will in a few days appoint
another person to succeed Mr. Hardinge; and on the 15th
of February, Mr. Dyson being appointed, is called in, and
takes his seat at the table " —HatseW t PrecedenU of the Pro*
ceedings of the' House of Commons, vol. ii. 253. 4ta

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 77

advantage; and appointed all the clerks, whose
offices became vacant in his time, without any pe-
cuniary consideration whatever. I was the first
that experienced the effect of this generosity, as
clerk-assistant ; to which office I was appointed by
Mr. Dyson *, not only without any gratuity on my
part, but, indeed, without his having had any per*
sonal knowledge of me, till I was introduced to
him by Dr. Akenside ; and recommended by him
as a person, that might be proper to succeed Mr.
Reid, then just dead, as clerk-assistant. This office,
at the time I received it from Mr. Dyson, * gratis,*
he might have disposed of, and not to an improper
person, or one unacquainted with the business of
the House of Commons, for 3000/. Mr. Dyson's
successors, i. e. Mr. Tyrwhitt and myself, have
thought ourselves obliged to follow the example
which he set ; but it is one thing to be the first to
refuse a considerable and legal profit, and another,
not to resume a practice that has been so honour*
ably abolished by a predecessor -f-."

The resignation of Mr. Hardinge having intro-
duced Mr. Dyson to that gantleman^ Akenside

* May 10, 1760.

t Hatsell's Precedents of the House of Commons, vol. ii.
257. 4to.

78 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

became acquainted with him; and that acquaint-
ance became an introduction to Dr. Hardinge, his
brother; and laid a foundation for a regard for
Mr. Hardinge^s son, the late Honourable George
Hardinge, many years judge upon the Presteign,
Brecon, and Cardiff circuit;— to whom Akenside
wrote a letter of advice and directions for the course
of his academical studies, which, Mr. Justice Har-
dinge says *, « formed the most ingenious and mas-
terly work that ever that arduous topic has pro-
duced.^^ Such having been the case, it is a subject
of great regret, that this letter should have been
irrecoverably lost. Akenside, I believe, agreed witb
Cardinal Fleury in the opinion, that children should
be educated in apartments looking into a garden, or
shrubbery, in order that study niight be assodated
with agreeable impressions.

Dr. Hardinge v/as physician extraordinary to
the king. He was bom at KingVNewton in the
county of Derby, and died at Mansfield in 1776.
" He was a man of singular habits and whims,*'
says his nephew, in a letter to Mr. Nichols; ** but
of infinite humour and wit. He was an admirable
scholar ; and if he had been uniformly attentive to

• Nichols' Anecdotes.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 79

the duties of his profession^ would have acquired the
first rank in it. In medical sagacity and learning
he had few, if any, superiors. His conversation
was coveted by the most accomplished wits and
scholars of his age. He was a man of perfect ho-
nour, and a more benevolent spirit never breathed.
His passion for coursing was one of his most pro-
minent characteristics; but like all the rest, he
made it the source of infinite amusement to his
friends. He was a comic tyrant over them all;
and I shall never forget an evening of civil war,
and another of peace, between these two physicians.
Dr. Akenside was the guest ; and at supper, by a
whimsical accident^ they fell into a dispute upon the
subject of a bilious colic. They were both of them
absurdly eager. Dr. Hardinge had a contempt for
every physician but himself ; and he held the poet
very cheap in that line. He laughed at him, and
said the rudest things to him. The other, who never
took a jest in good part, flamed into invective;
and Mrs. Hardinge, as clever in a different way as
either, could with difliculty keep the peace with
either of them. Dr. Akenside ordered his chariot,
and swore, that he would never come into the house
again. The other, who was the kindest-hearted

80 LIFE OF AKENSIDE,

of men^ the next morning, and in a manner quite
his own, made a perfect reconcilement, which ter*
minated in a pacific supper, the following night ;
when, by a powerful stroke of humour, the host
convulsed the sides of his guest with laughter, and
they were in delightful unison together, the whole
evening. ^ Do you kn-kn-know. Doctor,' said he,
(for he stammered )y * that I have b-bought a
curious pamphlet, this m-moming upon a st-stall,
and 1 11 give you the t-title of it ; an acc-count of a
curious dispute between D-Dr. Y. and D-Dr. Z ,
concerning a b-b-bilious c-colic, which brought on a
d-duel between the two ph-physicians, which t-ter-
minated in the d-death of both.' "

Shortly after this, Akenside wrote an Ode to his
humorous opponent. This ode is not very interest-
ing ; bat the last stanza points to the ambition, to
which the mind of the poet was in perpetual direc-
tion.

*' () versed in all the human frame !
Lead thou where'er my labour lies,
And English fancy's eager flame
To Grecian purity chastise ;
While^ hand in hand, at wisdom s shrine^
Beauty with truth I strive to join.

LIFE OP AKENSIDE. 6l'

And grave assent with glad applause,
To paint the story of the soul^
And Plato's visions to control
By Verulamian* laws."

Akenside was particularly partial to inscriptive
writing. Mr. Meyrick had two of liis copying ;
and very beautiful ones they are :

*' VIBIA . PHRVNE . VIXIT . TEB . 8EN0S . ANNOS
GARA . MEIS . VIX8I . SVBITO . FAT ALE . BAPIN A
FLOHENTEM . VITA . SV8TVLIT . ATRA . DIES
HOC . TVMVIiO . NVNC . SVM . CINERES . SIMVL . NAMQVE. . 8A-

CRATI
PER . MATREM . CARAM . SVNT . POSITIQVE . MEI
QVOS . PIVS . &£PE . COLIT . FRATER . CONIVNXQVE . PVELL^
ATQVB . OBITVM . N08TRVM . FLBTIBVS . USQUE . FLVVNT
DI . MANES . ME . UN AM . RETINETE . UT . VIVERE . POSSINT
QVOS . SEMPER . COLUI . VIVA . LIBENTE . ANIMO
UT . SINT . QVI . CINERES . NOSTROS . BENE . FL0RIBU8 . SERTIS
SAFE . ORNENT . DIOAT . SIT . MIHI . TERRA . LEVIS."

" FIRMA EPAPHRODITA.

Ann. xxviii.

FIRMA . SATIS . FELIX . CUM . ME . MEA . VITA . MANERET
OONJUOIS . OBSEQUIO . CUM . PIETATE . FUI

OONJUOIS . ILLIUS . QUEM . VIX . ACQUARE . MARITI
ADFECTU . POTERUNT . AUT . BONITATE . PARI

* *' Verulam gave one of his titles to Francis Bacon^ author
of the Novum Organum."— i^.

G

8S tIFE OF AKENSIDE.

OONLITBBTOBUM . VULTUB . AMIM06QUB . MEOBVH

PLACAT06 . MEBUI . 8EDI7LITATB . HEA
PLAOATOS . MEBUI . PEB . TB . MA6IS . OMNIS . UT . AIiTAS

BANOUINE . ME . JUNOTAH • OBEI>BBBT . ESSE . SIBI
QUI . TECUM . PIA . 0A8TBA . 8EQUI . OONSUIiTUS . BT . ILLS

QUEM . LEX . SEBYITn . DI8TBAHIT . A . DOMINO
HOS . OMNES . TIBI . PBO . MEBITIS . QUI . SIDEBA . TOBQUBNT

SECUM . PLACATOS . SEMPEB . HABEBE . YELINT."

At what periods Akenside's inscriptions were
written, can only be gathered from the insertion of
them in Dodsley's collection. They have been very
much admired. That on King William exhibits
a pure and classical taste : that for a statue of
Chaucer has a passage of great propriety and
dignity * ; that for a column at Runnymede is in
the best style of simplicity; while the one, com-
memorative of our great dramatic bard, is, perhaps,
the finest specimen of inscriptive poetry in the
English language. That, beginning with

Whoe'er thou art, whose path in summer lies
Through yonder village,"

<e

Thou perchance

From Blenheim's towers, O stranger ! Thou art come

Glowing with Churchill's trophies, yet in vain

Dost thou applaud them, if thy hreast be cold

To him, this other hero ; who, in times.

Dark and untaught, began with charming voice

To tame the rudeness of his native land."

LIFE OF AKENSIDE, 83

has a melancholy tale attached to it. This tale is
faithfully told in the inscription, and the person,
whose memory it preserves, was a young gentleman,
who came early into possession of a small estate in
the county of Northumberland. I think Sir Grey
Cooper, Bart., to whdtn I shall, hereafter, more par*
ticularly allude, said, that his name was Wey-
bridge.

" Whoe'er thou art, whose path in summer lies
Through yonder village, turn thee where the grove
Of hranching oaks a rural palace old
Imhosoms. There dwells Albert, generous lord
Of all the harvest round ! and onward thence
A low plain chapel fronts the morning light
Fast hy a silent rivulet. Humhly walk^
O stranger ! o'er the consecrated ground ;
And on that verdant hillock, which thou see'st
Beset with osiers, let thy pious hand
Sprinkle fresh water from the brook, and strew
Sweet^smelling flowers ; for there doth Edmund rest.
The learned shepherd ; for each rural art
Fam'd, and for songs harmonious, and the woes
Of ill-requited love. The faithless pride
Of fair Matilda sunk him to the grave
In manhood's prime: but soon did righteous heaven
With tears, with sharp remorse, and pining care.
Avenge her falsehood : nor could all the gold.
And nuptial pomp, which lur'd her plighted faith
From Edmund to a loftier husband's house.
Relieve her broken heart, or turn aside

q2

84 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

The (Strokes of death. Go^ traveller ! relate
The mournful story:— haply some fair maid
May hold it in remembrance^ and be taught.
That riches cannot pay for truth or love."

Mr. Dyson was now attending to his duties, as
Clerk of the Lower House of Parliament; and
Akenside was engaged in making his way as a phy-
sician, in the best manner he could ; still enjoying
the annual income of three hundred pounds, allowed
him by his friend: and as it was about this time,
that he undertook to rewrite his poem on the Ima-
gination^ it is more than probable, that he penned,
at this period, his beautiful Invocation : in which,
after alluding to the more early scenes of their in-
timacy, he continues in a strain, worthy the poet
to offer, and the friend to accept.

cc

O, my faithful friend f

O early chosen, ever found the same,

And trusted and beloved ! Once more, the verse

Long destined, always obvious to thine ear.

Attend indulgent : so, in latest years.

When time thy head with honours shall have clothVl,

Sacred to even virtue, may thy mind.

Amid the calm review of seasons past,

Fair offices of friendship, or kind peace.

Or public zeal : — may then thy mind, well pleas'd,

Recal these happy studies of oiir prime."

P. L Second Poem, i. v. 87.

LIFE OF AKfiNSIDS: 86

About this time, Akenside became a candidate
for the situation of physician to the Charter House;
but his merits were destined to bend before the
good fortune of another, whose sole recommendation
is said to have arisen out of the circumstance of
being related to Lord Holland. Sir John Hawkins,
who records this, makes a remark upon it, that I
cannot do better than associate with some equally
pertinent observations of Dr. Johnson. ^^ That a
character, so highly formed as that of Akenside,
should fail of recommending its possessor to those
benefits, which it is in the power of mankind to
bestow, may seem a wonder ; but it is often seen,
that negative qualities are more conducive to. this
end than positive ; and that, with no higher cha-
racter than is attainable by any one, who, with a
studious taciturnity, will keep his opinions to him-
self, conform to the practice of others, and entertain
neither friendship nor enmity against any one, a
competitor for the good opinion of the world, nay
for emoluments, and even dignities, stands a better
chance of success, than one of the most established
reputation for learningand ingenuity." " A physician
in a great city,'' says Johnson, " seems to be the
mere plaything of fortune ; his degree of reputation,
is, for the most part, totally casual: they that employ
him know not his excellence; they that reject him,

86 LIFE OF AKENSIDE,

know not his deficience. By any acute observer,
who had looked on the transactions of the medical
world for half a century, a very curious book might
be written on the * Fortune of Physicians.* "

The practice of Akenside, however, must have
been greater than has been generally supposed ; for
he kept a carriage. It was obstructed, however, no
doubt, by the honesty of his manners, to his dislike
of being all things to all men ; and, probably, in a
still greater d^ree by his fame as a poet: — a caprice
in direct hostility to the ancient fable, which made
ApoUo not only god of physic, but of music and
poetry.

The manners of Akenside may, perhaps, be illus-
trated by one of his own alterations. In the first
poem he writes

^ A purple doud came floatiiig through the sky."

Book ii. 223.

What can be more natural than this mode of ex-
pression ? In his MS. notations, however, he alters
it to

'' Came floating through the sky a purple doud."

It must be confessed, that if Akenside has some-
times all the grace of Virgil, and all the strength of
Lucretius, at others he has all the stiffness and in-
version of Callimachus.

We must now enter a little into politics. The

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. Si

opinions of Akenside and his friend were strongly

in favour of the Revolution, and, therefcnre, in

direct harmony with those principles, which placed

the family of Brunswick on the throne of Great

Britain. His Ode to the Earl of Huntingdon is

strongly confirmative of this : there are, therefore,

many passages, that could not but give offence

to that order of persons, who, out of a puerile

reverence of authority, affected to challenge for

themselves all loyalty to the sovereign, and all

love for the country. I shall quote a passage or

two ; as in a future page I shall probably have to

refer to them. It may be proper, however, first to

recur to a stanza in his ode to Sib Fbakcis Henry

Drake ; where he predicts the arrival of that period,

which soon after came :

'* When generous William • was revered^
Nor one untimely accent heard
Of James, or his ignoble reign."

His opinion of this monarch flows naturally and grace-
fully in the following much-admired inscription : —

^' GuLIEIiMVS III. FORTIS, riVS, LIBEBATOR, CVM IN-
EVNTE ^TATE TATRIM LATENTI ADFVISSET SALYS IPSE
VKICA; CVM MOX ITIDEM REIPVBLIC^ BRITANDflCiE VINOEX
RENVMCIATVS ES8ET ATQVE STATOR} TVM DENIQVE AD
ID SE NATVM RECOONOYIT ET RE6EM FACTVM, VT CTRARET
N£ DOMINO IMFOTENTI CEDERENT FAX, FIDES, FORTVNA,
GENERIS HVMANI. AvCTORI FVBLICiE FELICITATIS. F. G.

A* M* A*

H8* UFE OF AKENSIDE.

The succeeding passage an^ply testifies his didlike
to licence and democracy :

*' Here be it thine to calm and guide
The swelling democratic tide ;
To watch the state's uncertain frame^
And baffle faction's partial aim."

Ode to E. ofH, v. 2.

But if he was a strenuous adversary to democratic:
principles, he was equally hostile to those mean,
worthless,, and degenerate i^irits, who combat the
friendsof freedom not with noble weapons but with
disgraceful epithets and ignominious charges. In
this manner the enemies of the Revolution endea-
voured to stigmatize the Earl of Huntingdon. ^' Be
thou thine own approver !^ said Akenside.

'^ Be thou thine own approver ! honest praise
Oft nobly sways
Ingenuous youth :
But sought from cowards, and the lying mouth.
Praise is reproach. Eternal God alone
For mortals fixeth that divine award.
He, from the faithful records of his throne.
Bids the historian and the bard
Dispose of honour and of scorn ;
Discern the patriot from the slave ;
And write the good, the wise, the brave.
For lessons to the multitude unborn."

In respect to real, in contra-distinction to licen-

LIFE OF AKENSIDE.' 89

tious liberty, Akenside and Cowper were kindred
spirits.

'' Oh, could I worship aught heneath the skies.
That earth hath seen, or fancy can devise.
Thine altar, sacred Liberty, should stand.
Built hy no mercenary vulgar hand ;
With fragrant turf, and flowers as wild and fair.
As ever dress'd a hank, or scented summer air."

As a lyric poet, Akenside yields, on the whole,
to Gray and Collins. He is defective in pathos ;
his images occasionally want warmth, and his verse
melody ; but his lyrical productions, nevertheless,
exhibit a fine glow of sentiment, an' ardent admira-
tion of the great and good, an enthusiastic love of
true liberty, an utter detestation of tyranny, and a
iine sensibility to all the best and noblest feelings of
the heart. Dryden's ode is the best adapted to the
powers of music ; Collins' Ode of the Passions to
dramatic recitation ; and Gray's Bard to excite the
sublime aspirations of a Miltonic reader ; — but, next
to these, I think there can be no question, that
Akenside's Ode to the Earl of Huntingdon is the
finest and most powerful lyric poem in the lan-
guage. In regard to grandeur of sentiment it stands
the first.

Akenside was contemporary with a great number

90 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

of poets : among whom were Young, Thomson, Arm-
strong, Glover, Somerville, Sargent, Mallet, and
Chatterton ; Shenstone, Dyer, and Green ; Lyttel-
ton, Collins, Gray, Mason, and Seattle. It does not,
however, appear, that he was intimate with any of
these poets ; and his opinions are, I believe, nowhere
upon record, as to their relative merits, except in
regard to Dyer's Fleece. *' I have been told," says
Johnson in his life of Dyer, ^^ that Akenside, who,
upon a poetical question, has a right to be heard,
said, that be would regulate his opinion c^ the reign-
ing taste by the fate of Dyer''s Fleece ; for if that
were ill received, he should not think it any longer
reasonable to expect fame from excellence.'^

His opinion in respect to Fope^s fourth Epistle
on Man is thus recorded by Dr. Warton ♦:

" Our poet having, in the thtee former epistles)
treated of Man in all the three respects, in which
he can be considered ; namely, ^rst^ of his Nature
and State with respect to the Universe ; secondly y
with respect to Himself; thirdlt/i with respect to
Society ; seems to have finished his subject in the
three foregoing Epistles. The fourth Epistle, there-
fore, on Happiness, may be thought to be adsdti-

• Edition of Pope, vol. ii. 411.

LIFE OF AKENSIBE. 91

tious, and out of .its proper place, and ought to
have made part of the second Epistle, where Man
is considered with respect to Himself. I formerly
mentioned this to Dr. Akeksidb, and Mr. Harris,
who were of my opinion.^

In another page Dr. Warton records an opiilion
of Akenside in regard to Fenton^s Ode to Lord
GowER : '^ Akenside frequently said to me, that he
thought this ode the best in our language, next to
Alexander's Feast *.''

I have read this ode; and confess, that I could
find only two good stanzas in it.

" Shall Man from Nature's sanction stray,
With blind Opinion for his guide.
And, rebel to her rightful sway.

Leave all her bounties unenjoy'd ?
Fool ! Time no change of Motion knows ;
With equal speed the torrent flows.
To sweep Fame, Power, and Wealth away:
The past is all by Death possess'd ;
And frugal Fate, that guards the rest.

By giving, bids him live to-^y."

• * • • «

'' O Go WEB ! Through all that destined space.
What breath the Powers allot to me.
Shall sing the virtues of thy race.
United and complete in thee.

* Edition of Pope, voL ii. 401.

9S LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

O flower of ancient English faith I
Pursue th' unbeaten Patriot-path^

In which^ confirm'd^ thy father shone :
The light, his fair example gives.
Already from thy dawn receives

A lustre equal to its own."

Akenside's critical judgment seems to have been
greatly respected by his cotemporaries. '^ His com-
mients,^ says the Hon. George Hardihge, in a letter
to Mr. Nkfaols, " were cherished by those book-*
sellers, who lent him new books ; and if any one
struck him with a powerful impression, I believe it
was generally given to him by the publisher.^^ His
judgment is, also, appealed to in a very favourable
manner by Dr. Warton :

" By the favour of Dr. Lowth, the late ex-
cellent Bishop of London, I have seen a copy of
Spencers Essay on the Odyssey, with marginal
observations written in Pope's own hand, and gene-
rally acknowledging the justice of Spencers observa-
tions ; and in a few instances pleading, humorously
enough, that some favourite lines might be spared.
I speak from experience, when I say, that I know
no critical treatise better calculated to form the
taste of young men of genius, than this Essay on
the Odyssey. And lest it should be thought that
this opinion arises from my partiality to a friend.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 93

with whom I lived so many years in the happiest
intimacy, I will add, that this also was the opinion
of three persons, from whose judgment there can be
no appeal, Dr. Akenside, Bishop Lowth, and Mr.
James Haekis."

And here we may with propriety introduce, on
the authority of Isaac Reed, Esq. another paper,
written by Akenside, published in Dodsley's Mu-
seum. It is entitled the Balance of Poets ; and
can be considered in no other light than as a very
curious and important paper, comingj as it does,
from so accomplished a person. It may not, how-
ever, be presumptuous to hint, that all critics will,
perhaps, not feel disposed to coincide with his de-
cisions.

THE BALANCE OF POETS.

M. Db Piles is one of the most judicious authors
on the art of Painting. He has added to his treatise on
that subject a very curious paper^ which he calls the
Balance of the Painters. He divides the whole art of
painting into four heads: composition, design, colour-
ings and expression ; under each of which he assigns
the degree of perfection, which the several masters have
obtained. To this end he first settles the degree of
sovereign perfection, which has never been attained.

94 LIFE OF AKENSIDB;

and wliich is beyond even the taste or knowledge of

the best critics at present : this he rates as the twen-
tieth degree. The nineteenth degree is the highest of
which the human mind has any comprehension; but
which has not yet been expressed or executed by the
greatest masters. The eighteenth is that to which the
greatest masters have actually attained ; and so down-
wards^ according to their comparative genius and skill.
Monsieur de Piles makes four columns of his four diief .
articles or parts of painting; and opposite to the names
of the great masters^ unites their several degrees of per-
fection in each article. The thought is very ingenious ;
and had it been executed with accuracy^ and a just
rigour of taste^ would have been of the greatest use to
the lovers of that noble art. But we can hardly expect,
that any man should be exactly right in his judgment^
through such a multiplicity of the most delicate ideas.

I have often wished to see a balance of this kind>
that might help to settle our comparative esteem of the
greater Poets in the several polite languages. But as
I have never seen nor heard of any such design, I have
here attemptpd it myself, according to the best informa-
tion which my private taste could afford me. I shall
be extremely glad, if any of your ingenious corre-
spondents will correct me where I am wrong ; and in
the meantime shall explain the general foundations of
my scheme, where it differs from that of the French
author. For he has not taken in a sufficient number of
articles to form a complete judgment of the art of paint-
ing ; and though he had, yet poetry requires many more.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 95

I shall retain his numbers^ and suppose twenty to be the
degree of absolute perfection^ and eighteen the highest,
that any poet has attained.

His first article is Composition; in which his ba-
lance is quite equivocal and uncertain. For there are^ in
paintings two sorts of composition, utterly different from
each other. One relates to the eye, the other to the
passions: so that the former may be not improperly
styled picturesque composition, and is concerned only
with such a disposition of the figures, as may render the
whole group of the picture entire and well united ; the
latter is concerned with such attitudes and connexions
of the figures, as may effectually touch the passions of
the spectator. There are^ in poetry, two analogous kinds
of composition or ordonnance ; one of which belongs to
the general plan or structure of the work, and is an
object of the cool judgment of a connoisseur; the other
relates to the most striking situations, and the most
moving incidents. And though these are most strictly
connected in truth and in the principles of art, yet, in
fact, we see them very frequently disjoined ; and they
depend indeed on different powers of the mind. Sir
Richard Blackmore, a name for contempt, or for
oblivion, in the* commonwealth of poetry, had more of
the former than Shakespeare ; who had more of the
latter than any man, that ever lived. The former we
shall call Critical Ordonnance, the latter Pathetic; and
'these make the two first columns of our balance.

It may, perhaps, be necessary to observe here, thai
though, literally speaking, these two articles relate only
to epic and dramatic poetry ; yet we shall apply them

96 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

to every other species. For in lyric poetry, in satire> in
comedy, in the ethical epistle, one author may excel
another in the general plan and disposition of his work ;
and yet fall short of him in the arguments, allusions,
and other circumstances, which he employs to move
his reader, and to obtain the end of his particular com-
position.

Our next article answers to that which Monsieur de
Files calls Expression ; but this, likewise^ in poetry,
requires two columns. Painting represents only a single
instant of time ; consequently it expresses only a present
passion, without giving any idea of the general character
or turn of mind. . For poetry expresses this part as well
as the other ; and the same poet is not equally excellent
in both. Homer far surpasses Virgil in the general de-
lineation of characters and manners ; but there are, in
Virgil, some expressions of particular passions, greatly
superior to any in Homer. I shall, therefore, divide
this head of expression, and call the former Dramatic
Expression, and the latter Incidental.

Our next article answers to what the painters call
Design, or the purity, beauty, and grandeur of the
outline in drawing ; to which the taste of beauty in de-
scription, and the truth of expression, are analogous in
poetry. But as the term design, except among painters,
is generally supposed to mean the general plan and con-
trivance of a work, I shall therefore omit it, to prevent
mistakes; and substitute instead of it, the Truth qf Taste,
by which to distinguish the fifth column. And indeed,
this article would likewise admit of several subdivisions ;
for some poets are excellent for the grandeur of their

/*

LIFE OF AKENSIDE« 9?

taste^' others for its beauty^ and others for a kind of
neatness. But they may all be ranged under the same
Lead ; as Michael Anoelo^ Raphael, and Poussin,
are all characterised from their design. The truth of
taste will, caeteris paribus, belong to the first in the
highest degree ; but we must always remember, that
there can be no greatness without justness and decorum ;
which is the reason that Raphael is counted higher
in design than Michael Angelo. For though this
latter had a grandeur and more masculine taste^ yet
Raphael, with a truly grand one^ was incomparably
more correct and true.

It is not easy to assign that part of poetry, whicli
answers to the colouring of a painter. A viery good
judge of painting calls the colouriko the procuress
of her sister. Design ; who gains admirers fyr her,
that otherwise might not^ perhaps, be captivated with
her charms^ If we trace this idea through poetry, we
shall, pei;haps> determine poetical colouring to be such a
general choice of words, such an order of grammatical
construction, and such a movement and turn of the
verse, as are most favourable to the poet's invention,
^distinct from the ideas which those words convey. For
whoever has reflected much on the pleasure whidi
poetry communicates, will recollect many words which,
taken singly, excite very similar ideas ; but which have
very different effects, according to their situation and
connexion in a period. It is impossible to read Virgil,
but especially Milton, without making this observation
a thousand times. The sixth column of the balance
shall, therefore, be named from this poetical colouring.

H

96 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

Ab for VERSIFICATION, its greatest inerit is always
proTided for by the last article ; but as it would seem
strange to many, should we entirely omit it; the seventh
column shall, therefore, be allotted for it as far as it
relates to the mere harmony of sound*

The eighth article belongs to the Moral of the
several poets, or to the truth and merit of the sentiments
which they express, or the dispositions which they in^-
culcate with respect to religion, dvil society, or private
life. The reader must not be surprised, if he find th^
heathen poets not so much degraded, as he might expect
in this particular ; for though their representations of
Divine Providence be so absurd and shocking, yet this
article is intended to diaracterise the comparative
goodness of thedr moral intention, and not the compara-
tive soundness of their speculative opinions. Where
Utile is given, little is required.

The ninth and last column contains an Estim ats
of their comparative value and eminence up<m the whole.
This is greatly wanting in the French author. The
degrees of perfection, which he assigns to Rubens, make
up a sum, when the four artidies are added to eadi
other, exactly equal to what he calculates for Raphael ^
so that one, not greatly versed in the study of pictures,
m^ght imagine from thence that Rubens was as great a
painter as Raphael. This general estimate is also more
necessary in the present scheme, as some of the articles,
particularly that of Ordonnance, are applied equally to
every species of poetry; so that a Satirist will be rated
as high, in that article, as an Epic poet ; provided his
Ordonnance be as perfect for satire, as that of the other

LIFE OF AKEKSIDE.

99

is for liennc poetry. Upon this account^ justice to the
manes of the divine poets req[uires, that we should
acknowledge thdr pre-eminence upon the whole^ after
having thus set their inferiors upon a level with them
in particular parts.

You see this general method is here applied to a few^
the greater names of poetry in most poKte languages.
I have avoided to bring in any living authors^ because
I know the vanity and emulation of the poetical tribe ;
which I mention^ lest the reader may find fault with
me for omitting Voltaire^ Metastasio^ or any favourite
author of our own nation.

Ariosto •

1 Critical
1 Ordonnance. ,

11

"S a

5

15

ll

10

3.1
11
^ w

15

i

14

Colouring.

>

1

10

•

'Si
13

15

16

Boileau . •

18

16

12

14

17

14

13

16

12

Cervantes .

17

17

15

17

12

16

—. ^

16

14

Comeille .

16

16

16

16

16

14

12

16

14

Dante • •

12

15

8

17

12

15

14

14

13

Euripides .

15

16

14

17

13

14

—

15

12

Homer • -

18

17

18

15

16

16

18

17

18

Horace . •

12

12

10

16

17

17

16

14

13

Lucretius .

14

5

—

17

17

14

16

10

Milton . .

17

15

15

17

18

18

17

18

17

Moliere

15

17

17

17

15

16

— i

16

14

Pindar . •

10

10

17

17

16

—

17

13

Pope . *

16

17

12

17

16

15

15

17

13

Racine * .

17

16

15

15

17

13

12

15

13

Shakspeare

—

18

18

18

10

17

10

18

18

Sophocles .

18

16

15

15

16

14

—

16

13

6penser • •
Tasso . .

a

15

10

16

17

17

17

17

14

17

14

14

13

12

13

16

13

12

Terence

18

12

10

12

17

14

-^~

16

10

Viipl • .

17

10

17

17

18

17

17

17

16

h2

100 LIFE 6F AKfiNSlD^.

The estimate stands thus : : ^

CRITICAL OBDONNANCf.

^irH Class* * Horner^ Sophocles^ Terence^ Boileau.

Second . Viigil^ Tasso^ Milton^ Racine.

Third \ Pope.

Fourth « Euripides^ Coraeillc.

Fifth . Lucretius.

Sixth Horace, Dante.

Seventh . Pindar.

Eighth . Spenser.

Ariosto and Shakspeare disdained critical ordon-
nances.

PATHETIC OBDONNANCE.

First Class, Shakspeare.

Second , Homer.

Third • Sophocles^ Euripides^ Comeille^ Racine.

Fourth • Dante^ Ariosto, Spenser, Milton.

Fifth . Tasso.

Sixth . Terence, Horace.

Seventh . Pindar, Virgil.

DRAMATIC EXPRESSION.

First Class. Homer and Shakspeare.

Second . Virgil.

Third . Comeille. $

Fourth . Sophocles, Milton, Racine.

* The reader is requested to ohserve, that each poet is
. placed in the following summaries, according to the only
order the author's arrangement admits of, viz. a chronological
• one.

I>IFE OF AKEN3IDE.

101

Fifth .

Euripides^ Tasso.

Sixth

Boileau^ Pope.

Seventh ^

Terence^ Horace, Ariosto, Spenser.

INCIDENTAL EXFBE8SI0N.

First Class.

Shakspeare.

Second

Euripides, Pindar, Lucretius, Virgil, l>ante.

Milton, Pope.

Third .

Horace, Spenser, Corneille.

Fourth .

Homer, Sophocles, Ariosto, Racine.

Fifth .

Boileau.

Sixth

Tasso.

Seventh .

Terence.

TASTE.

First Class.

Virgil, Milton.

Second .

Pindar, Terence, Lucretius, Horace, Spenser,

Boileau, Racine.

Third .

Homer, Sophocles, Corneille, Pope.

Fourth .

Ariosto.

Fifth .

Euripides.

Sixth

Dante and Tassa

Seventh .

Shakspeare.

COLOURING.

First Class. Milton.

Second . Virgil, Horace, Shakspeare, Spenser.

Third . Homer, Pindar.

Fourth • Dante, Ariosto, Pope. .

Fifth . Euripides, Sophocles, Terence, Lucretius, Cor-
neille, Boileau.

Sixth . Tasso, Racine.

102 LIFE OF AKENSIBE^

▼ERUFICATIOK*

First Class, HomeTr

Second . Virgil, Spenser, Milton*

Third . Lucretius, Horace, Tasso, Ariosto.

Fourth . Pope,

Fifth . Dante.

Sixth . Boileau.

Seventh . Corneille, Racine*

Eighth . Shakspeare.

Sophocles, Euripides, Pindar, and Terence are not minur
bered.

MORAL.

First Class.

Shakspeare, Milton.

Second

Homer, Pindar, Virgil, Spenser, Pope.

Third .

Sophocles, Terence, Corneille, Boileau.

Fourth .

Euripides, Racine.

Fifth

Horace, Dante.

Sixth

Tasso.

Seventh •

Ariosto.

FINAL ESTIMATE.

First Class. Homer, Shakspeare.
Second . Milton*.

* He pays a fine compliment to Milton in his Ode to the '

Eabl of Huntingdon. I

" Mark, how the dread Pantheon Btand», ^

Amid the domes of modem hands :
Amid the toys of idle state.
How simply, how severely great !

LIFE OF AKENSIOE. 103

Third . VirgU.

Fourth • Corneille^ Spenser.

Fifth . Pindar, Sophocles, Horace, Dante, Ariosto,

Racine, Pope.
Sixth • Euripides, Tasso*, Boileau.
Seventh • Terence, Lucretius.

Then turn, and, while each western clime
Presents her tuneful sons to time.

So mark thou Milton's name;
And add, * Thus differs from the throng
The spirit, whieh informed thy awful song,
JVhich bade thy potent voice protect thy cotmirysfame\.**

* This low appreciation of Tasso corresponds with a passage
in the second hook of his poem on the Imagination :

" Thus from their guardians torn, the tender arts
Of mimic fancy and harmonious joy.
To priestly domination and the lust
Of lawless courts, their amiahle toil.
For three inglorious ages, have resign'd
In vain reluctant : arid TorqutUo's tongue
Was tuned for slavish pasans at the throne
Of tinsel pomp,"

'* A lucky word," says Bishop Hurd, in his Letters on
Chivalry and Romance, '* which sounds well, and every hody
gets by heart, goes farther than a volume of just criticism.
In short, the exact, but cold, Boileau happened to say some-

t Alluding to the defence of the people of England against
Salmasius.

101* LIFE OF akenside;

We may now quote two fragments from the
pages of Dr. Warton, illustrative of Akenside's

thing of the clinquant of Tasso : and the magic of .this word«
like the report of Astolfo's horn in Ariosto^ overturned at
once the solid and well-built reputation of the Italian poetry.

" It is not^ perhaps^ strange^ that this potent word should
do its business in France. What was less to be expected^ it
put us into a fright on this side the water. Mr. Addison^
who gave the law in taste here^ took it up, and sent it about
the kingdom in his ]^<4ICe and popular Essays *. It became
a sort of watchword among the critics ; and> on the sudden^
nothing was heard^ on all sides^ but the clinquant of Tasso."

It is curious to observe the presumption of some men,
even eminent men — as Boileau must certainly be allowed
to have been ; though not a great one. M affei lets out a
secret, in respect to him ; for he assures us, that Racine's
elder son told him, that Boileau had not only never read
Tasso, but that he knew scarcely one word of Italian.

I cannot but say, that I think Akenside was in some degree
deficient in that language also. Had he dipt deeply into that
holy fountain, he woidd, perhaps, in common with Milton,
have discovered that Tasso's metal was not tinsel, but solid
gold. ' He would, also, I think, out of regard to so excellent
a man, and so lofty a genius, have passed over that part of
the poet's life, wherein *^ his poverty, rather than his will,"
consented. ^' Pardone" said he, in a letter to a friend,
*' a me quest ardimento di lodar me stesso, poich^ to agevol*
mente io perdonata Vimportunita d^aver lodati molti contra
mia voglia, e contra il proprio giudicio"

* Spectator, vol. i. No. 5. ; vol. v. No. 369.

UF£ OF AKENSIDF. 105

opinions in regard to correctness of writing ; and
the inadequacy of the French language to the ex«
pression of poetical ideas. Warton seems to have
quoted from the conversation of Akenside. At
least, I do not recollect in what book or paper,
except in his edition of Pope, the following senti-
ments are to be found.

'* 'Tis hard/' said Akenside^ *' to conceive by what
means the French acquired the character of superior
correctness. We have classic authors in English, older
than in any modem language, except the Italian ; and
Spenser and Sidney wrote with the truest taste, when
the French had not one great poet they can hear to read.
Milton and Chapelin were contemporaries ; the Pucelle

In a book, printed in black-letter, 1588, entitled The
Householders Philosophie, and said to be translated from the
Italian of that '' excellent orator and poet, Sionior Ton-
QUATO Tasso," we have these words: —

** Mans are 0erbaiit0 t»c fortune, tl^at are free Iiq nature.
HxCti a is not to lie marbatllelr at t^at mans eruell eonHicts
anil traungerous toarres are eauseH anlr eontinueli iis ^ejO at
tl^ese. f^otobett it i« a great argument of baseness, ttat
seruile fortune ean engenlier seruile euils in a gentle xxiviti**'
Fol. 15.

This book I take to be an imposition. I see nothing, as-
similating with the subject, in any of the general collections
pf Tasso's works y but the coincidence of sentiment is re-
markable.

106 tiFE OF AKENStDE*

and Paradise Lost were in hand> perhaps frequently^ at
the self-same honr. One of them was executed in snch
# manner, that an Athenian of Menander's age would
jjiave turned his eyes from the Minerra of Phidias, or
the Venus of Apelles, to obtain more perfect conceptions
of beauty from the English poet; the other, though
fostered by the French court for twenty years with the
utmost indulgence, does honour to the Leonine and the
Runic poetry. It was too great an attention to French
criticism, that hindered her poets^ in Charles the Se«
<M>nd's time, from comprehending the genius and ac-
knowledging the authority of Milton; else, without
Rooking abroad, they might have acquired a manner more
correct and perfect^ than French authors could, or can
teach them."

*' Were I a Frenchman," said Akenside, " con-
cerned for the poetical glory of my country, I should
lament its unmusical language, and the impossibility of
forming it to numbers or harmony. The French ode
is an uncertain mixture of different feet, changing at
random the rhythmus or movement of the verse, and dis-
appointing one's ear, just as if a dancer in the midst of
a minuet should fall a capering in the harlequin step, or
break out into a Lancashire hornpipe. Their Alexan-
drine measure, which they call heroic, has its pause or
caesura in every line in the same place; so that two
hammers make just as much music as Racine or Boileau*
If this be without remedy in the French language,
their language is very unfortunate for Poetry ; but it is

LIFE OF AKSNSIDC. 107

diverting to hear these finished critics and masters *of
correctness raining themselves upon this wretched^ un*
musical poverty in their verse^ and blaming the licen-r
tiousness of English poetry ; because it allows a variation
of the pause^ and a suspension of the period from one
verse into any part of another ; without which poetry
has less harmony than prose."

We may now introduce Akenside^s confession of
the love and admiration, he always entertained for
Greek learning, manners, and sentiments ; and, for
the greater variety, we shall adopt the version of
the Italian translator.

'^ Genio di Grecia^ se non tardo i' tenni
L'orme tue fide sul difficil calle
Di Natura^ e Scienza alme nudrici
De' bei desiri, e dell' eroiche gesta ;
Fa che nell' aura di tua lode il mio
Petto s' infiammi ad ad^uar 1' eccelso
Non tentato argomento ; e non fia mai,
Che di baldanza alcun m' accusi e adontf,
Se neir ore tranquille d'una sera^
Cui pinge April di lusinghevol riso^
Fuggo sdegnoso il sordido ricetto
Di vile ambizion^ del garrir vano,
Impaziente di seguirti, o sacro
Nume^ per le silvestri ombre romite
Dal loro infesto pie non tocche ancont.
Scendi, O Genio propizto," &c.

Mazza, I. 72U

108 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

Akenside seems to have been a great frietid to
Dodsley's Miscellany; for he occasionally recom-
mended papers for insertion in it. Among those,
thus recommended, was Welsted^s Ode on the Duke
of Marlborough *.

Welsted was an acquaintance of Akenside; but
in what estimation he was held, we are not informed.
He had a place in the Ordnance office, and a house
in the Tower. His great patron was the Dukq
of Newcastle, and Warburton asserts, that he re^r
ceived five hundred pounds from the secret service
fund for writing anonymously in behalf of the
ministry, of which his grace was a member. He
was author of a comedy, acted in 1726 in Lincoln V
Inn-Fields, with some success, entitled " The
Dissembled Woman; or^ My Son get Money f."*^
He wrote, also, in early life, a satire against Pope,
called " The Triumvirate;" for which that poet
punished him with a parody in the Dunciad.

" Flow, Welsted, flow ! like thine inspirer. Beer,
Though stale, not ripe; though thin, yet never clear;

* Warton.

t This comedy is supposed to be alluded to in fno. 182
of the Tatler.

LITE OF AKENSIDE. 109

'So Bweetly mawkish^ and so smoothly dull ; .
Heady^ not strong ; o'erflowing^ though not fall *."

* Danciad, III. 169. Pope names him also in his Pro-
line to the Satires :

" Three thousand suns went down on Welsted's lie."

'^This man had the impudence to tell in prints that
Mr. P. had occasioned a lady's death, and to name a person,
he never heard of. He also puhlished, that he lihelled the
'Duke of Chandos; with whom (it was added) that he lived
In familiarity, and received from him a present of Jive hunr
dred pcninds: the falsehood of hoth which is known to his
grace. Mr. P. never received any present^ farther than the
suhscription for Homer, from him, or from any great man
whatever." — P.

Welsted puhlished a translation of Longinus' treatise '^ On
the Suhlime." He gave out, that he translated it from the
Greek ; hut the fact was, it was. no other than a translation
from the French of Boileau. He dedicated it to the Bishop
of Winchester.

He was, also, author of a hook (which he inscrihed to the
Duke of Chandos,) entitled *' The Scheme and Conduct of
Providence*' This consists of ohservations on that law of
the decalogue, which threatens punishment to sons for the
crimes of their fathers.

As a poet, he had some reputation in his day. The fol«
lowing specimen is from his Sum mum Bonum.

To his great chiefs the conqueror Pyrrmus spoke,

** Two moons shall wane, and Greece shall own our yoke."

'* 'Tie well," replied the friend : " admit it so,

What next r « Why next to Italy 1 11 go.

110 LinS 0F AKEHSIDE,

In 1749, a company of French Comedians "were
acting in London by subscription. A part of the
public were very indignant at this circumstance;
and Akenside partook of it. But to refuse to listen
to the French Drama, because France is our rivals
were not only unjust and impolitic ; but absurd, and
even ridicuk)us. Akenside^ however, thought other-
wise; and, in consequence, wrote what he called
the Remonstrance of Shakspeare. As a whole,
it isy perhaps, unwcnrthy of the author''s genius ; but
there is some point in the lines, in which he cha-
racterizes the French Drama.

'^ Say, does your humble admiration choose
The gentle prattle of her comic muse;
While wits, plain-dealers, fops, and fools, appear.
Charged to say nought but what the king may hear >
Or rather, melts your sympathizing hearts.
Won by her tragic scenes' romantic arts.
Where old and young declaim on soft desire.
And heroes never but for love expire?"

A.nd Rome in ashes lay." " What after thatr

*' Waste India's realms." "What thenT **Then sit and

chat;
Then quaff the grape, and mirthful stories tell."
Sir, you may do so now, and full as well."

«(

Welsted died in 1 747.

UFE DP AKBIf SIDG. Ill

In 1750, Akenside wrote an Ode to William
Hall, Esa of the Middle Temple. Mr. Hall
was an intimate friend of Markland, who inscribed
to him his Qtuesiio Grammaika, He ranked, also,
among his friends, Lord Jersey, Lord Clarendon,
Lord Hampden, and the first Lord Camden. His
manners partook of the society he had kept; he
had a good person, and a pleasing countenance.
He was, besides, a man not only gifted with a fine
taste in subjects of art and literature ; but he was
a poet of no mean order. His translation from
Anacreon* is universally known; and the follow-
ing sonnet to Mr. Nicholas Hardinge, on the first
impression of Lauder^s Forgeries, reminds us oi
several sonnets, written by the poet, that he cele-
brates.

'^ Hardikge t ! firm advocate of Milton's fame !

Av€nge the honour of hifi injured muse !

The bold Salmasius dared not bo accuse,
And l»:and him, liying^ with a felon s name !

* In the dead of the nighty when with labour opprest.
All mortals enjoy the sweet blessings of rest,
A boy knock*d at my door, &c. &c.

t Mr. Nicholas Hardinge was a very able critic, and was
the first who gave the true reading in a remarkable passagi^

112 LIFE OF AKENSIDE;

Arch-forger^ cursed poison to infuse

In Eve's chaste ear, her freedom to ahusei
That lurking fiend> — Ithuriel's arm and flame,

^therial gifts detected: but this plot
Thou hast an arm^ and spear, that can expose;

With lashes keen, drive, to that traitorous spot.
The nurse of base impostors, to his snows.

And barren mountains, the blaspheming Scot I"

in one of Horace's Odes. Dr. Bentley was struck with it,
and passed s, very high but singular commendation of it,
characteristic Of his own pedantry and wit A whimsical
appeal was made to him, when he was clerk of the House
of Commons : Pulteney and Sir Robert Walpble were squab-
bling; end the former playfully told the latter, that his
Latin was as l)ad as his politics. He had quoted a line
from Horace •, and Pulteney insisted that he bad misquoted
it. The other would not give it up* A guinea was ]aid>
and Mr. Hardinge was the arbiter ; who rose with a very
droU solemnity, and gave it against his own patron. Sir
Roberta The guinea was thrown across the house, which
Pulteney took up, saying, it was ** the jfirst public money
that he hctd touched for a long time," He had formerly been
in office. It should be added, to make the anecdote com-
plete, that at Pulteney's death, the individual guinea was
found, wrapped up in a piece of paper, with a memorandum
upon it, recording the circumstance.— iViwAo/*.

''^ His mums aheneus esto

Nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpdl
^ir Robert repeated it, '^ nuUi pallescere culpas**^

LIFE OP AKENSIDE. 113

In spite, however, of all the elegances, by which
Mr. Hall was distinguished, there was one passion,
to which he was most culpably devoted — the love
of women : and it was this passion, that, induced
Akenside to address him with an ode, accompanied
with the poems of de Chaulieu, whom he seems to
have, in some respects, resembled*.

* The Abb^ de Chaulieu was born at his father's seat at
Fontenai, in the Vexen-Normand^ in 1639. An excellent
education, joined with quick natural parts^ and an easy
gaiety of disposition, soon rendered him the delight of ele-
gant society^ and in particular gained him the friendship of
the great Duke of Vendome, and his brother, the grand-
prior of Malta. They treated him with familiarity, and gave
him the management of their affairs, which they repaid with
several benefices of considerable value. He, also, possessed
the Lordship of Fontenai ; so that he was enabled to follow
at his ease the pleasurable life, to which he was addicted.
His apartments at the Temple, in Paris, were the resort of
a society of lettered friends, whom he charmed by the liveli-
ness of bis conversation, and the amiable qualities of his
heart.

The poetry, by which Chaulieu distinguished himself, is
a mixture of the voluptuous and sentimental, partaking of
the gaiety of Anacreon, and the philosophical good-humour
of Horace. He was the poetical pupil of Chapelle, whom he
imitated in the easy negligence of his verse, and the occa-
sional use of double rhymes. Though he was superior to what
Pope has denominated *'the mob of gentlemen, who write
with ease -y* yet he is rather to be classed with the careless

I

1 14 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

In this Ode, the poet condemns the licentious-
ness of Chaulieu ; but he makes a concession, to
which it is impossible to accede.

" We own, had Fate to man assign'd
Nor sense, nor wish, but what obey
Or Venus soft or Bacchus gay ;

Then might our bard's voluptuous creed

Most aptless govern human-kmd :
Unless, perchance, what he hath sung
Of tortur'd joints and nerves unstrung,

Some wrangling heretic should plead."

Akenside seems, for a moment, to forget, that
temperance must, in all cases, be the best luxury ;
and that wisdom and virtue are the best rewards.

men of genius, than with the masters of the art Voltaire,
in his ^' Temple of Taste," has thus characterized him :

Je vis arriver en ce lieu

Le brillant Abbe de Chaulieu,

Qui chantoit en sortant de table.

II osoit caresser le Dieu

D'un air familier, mals aimable.

Sa vive imagination

Prodiguoit, dans sa douce ivresse,

Des beaut^s sans correction,

Qui chocquoient un peu la justesse,

Et respiroient la passion.

This Epicurean, notwithstanding frequent attacks of the
gout, lived to his 81st year; dying at Parig in 1720,—
Aiktnfrom Moreri,

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 115

In 1 766, Mr. Hall retired to Bath, to take the
benefit of the waters, and there fell into a state,
says the Hon. George Hardinge^ perhaps unex-
ampled in the philosophy of human decay. " He
became first weak, then childish; and from that
idiotcy emerged into the wildest paroxysm of de-
lirium, in which he died *.''

Akenside had been some time acquainted with
the celebrated Chakles Townsend, brother of the
first Marquis of Townsend ; one of the best par-
liamentary speakers of his timef ; in 1754 a Lord

♦ December, 1766.

t His oratorical powers are thus described by Mr. Burke.
^' You understand, that I speak of Charles Townsend, whom
I cannot eyen now remember without some d^ee of sensi-
bility. In truth, he was the delight and ornament of this
house, and the charm of every private society which he
honoured with his presence. Perhaps there never arose in
this country, nor in any country, a man of a more pointed
and finished wit; and (where his passions were not con-
cerned) of a more refined, exquisite, and penetrating judg-
ment. If he had not so great a stock, as some have had, who
flourished formerly, of knowledge, long treasured up, he
knew better by far, than any man I ever was acquainted
with, how to bring together in a short time, all that was ne-
cessary to establish, to illustrate, and to decorate that side of
the question he supported. He stated his matter skilfully
and powerfully. He particularly excelled in a most luminous
explanation and display of his subject His style of argu-

i2

1 16 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

of the Admiralty, and, subsequently. Chancellor of
the Exchequer.

To this eminent person, who was, no doubt, one
of Akenside^s patients*, the poet addressed two
Odes. The first is not distinguished by any pass-
age of interest, if we except the allusions to the
affliction, with which the poet had been visited on
the loss of Olympia. The second seems to have

ment was neither trite and vulgar^ nor subtle and abstruse.
He hit tlie house just between wind and tide. And not being
troubled with too anxious a zeal for any matter in question,
he was never tedious, or more earnest, than the preconceived
opinions and present temper of the house ; and he seemed to
guide, because he was always sure to follow it.

'' There are many young members in the house (such, of
late, has been the rapid succession of public men), who never
saw that prodigy, Charles Townsend; nor of course know
what a ferment he was able to excite in every thing by the
violent ebuUition of his mixed virtues and failings,— lor
failings he had undoubtedly— many of us remeinber them—
we are this day considering the effect of them. But he had
no failings, which were not owing to a noble cause; to an
ardent, generous, perhaps an immoderate passion for fame ;
A passion, which is the instinct of all great souls."

* " Oh ! knew'st thou how the bahny air.
The sun, the azure heav'ns, prepare

To heal thy languid frame;
No more wduld noisy courts engage.
In vain would lying faction's rage

Thy sacred leisure dainu"

LIFE OF AKENSIDE* 117

been writtai while he was upon a visit to Mn
Townsend in the country; and, like the ode to the
Earl of Huntingdon, breathes all that an English-
man can desire. Their friendship was, however, at
last dissolved.

Johnson endeavoured to explain this friendship
on grounds, not ju$tified by the premises. " Sir,"
said he to Boswell, " a mian is very apt to complain
of the ingratitude of those, who have risen far above
him. A man, when he gets into a higher spherisj
into other habits of life, cannot keep up all his
former connexions. Then, sir, those who knew
him formerly, upon a level with themselves, may
think they ought to be treated as on a level, which
cannot be. An acquaintance in a former situation
may bring out things, which would be very dis-
agreeable to have mentioned before higher company;
though, perhaps, every body knows of them. This
dissolved the friendship of Akenside and Charles
Townsend." But this is no appropriate instance,
as Mr. Croker justly observes in his late compre-
hensive edition of BoswelFs Life of Johnson.
" Charles Townsend, the nephew of the Prime
Minister, the son of a peer, who was Secretary of
State, and leader of the House of Commons, was as
much above Akenside in their earliest days, as at

I ] 8 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

any subsequent period. Nor was Akenside in rank
inferior to Dr. Brocklesby, with whom Charles
Townsend continued in intimate friendship, to the
end of his life.'"

In 1751 appeared a work, under the title of
" MemcAres pour servir a FHistoire de la Maison
de Brcmdebcmrgy This work, being written by
Frederic, king of Prussia, was universally read
throughout Europe. It contained many extraor-
dinary passages, and among the rest the two fol-
lowing : —

' " // sejit une migration (the author is speaking of what
happened of the Revocation of Nantz *\ dont on navoit guere
vu d^exemples dans Vhistoire: un peuple entier sortit du
royaume par t esprit de parti en haine du pape, et pour re-
cevoir sous un autre del la communion sous les deux especes :
quatre cens mille ames s expatrierent ainsi et abandonnerent
tous leur biens pour detonner dans d*autres temples les vteux
pseaumes de Clement Marot**

" La crainte donna lejour d la cr^dulitS, et famour propre
interessa bient6t le del au destin des hommes"

Perceiving the consequences of these passages on
the minds of the ignorant ; — more especially since
they proceeded from so high a quarter, — Akenside
wrote an ode to the author. This ode has nothing

M.A.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 1 19

very remarkable ; but there is one stanza, and that
a very fine one, which we may quote, because it r^
spects not only the general argument, but another,
he had assumed in his " Pleasures of Imagination ;*'
viz. that ridicule is the test of truth.

^'O evil foresight, and pernicious care !
Wilt thou indeed abide by this appeal?
Shall we the lessons of thy pen compare
With private honour, or with public zeal?
Whence, then, at things divine those darts of scorn?
Why are the woes, which virtuous men have borne
For sacred truth, a prey to laughter given ?
What fiend, what foe of nature, urged thy arm
Th' Almighty of his sceptre to disarm.
To push this earth adrift, and leave it loose from Heav'n ?"

Three years after, following the same course,
Akenside wrote an ode to the truly admirable
Hoadley, Bishop of Winchester; an excellent man,
a constitutional politician, and a truly Christian
bishop. He had been, successively. Bishop of
Bangor, Hereford, and Salisbury; and having long
been actively engaged in the endeavour to awaken
and keep alive a regard to civil and political liberty,
Akenside's ode operated not only as a farther ex-
citement, but as a reward : for the virtues of the
bishop are celebrated in the best manner; and his

ISO LIFE OF AKENSID£.

principles recommended to the observance and pre^
servationoraiLafter times'*^.

In July, 1765, Akenside read the Gulstonian
Lectures before the CoUege of Physicians. In these
lectures, he advanced opinions, relative to the
lymphatic vessels of animals, in decisive opposition
to those of Boerhaave. These opinions may be
gathered from the following abstract. ^^ That the
lymphatics in general have their origin among the
little cavities of the cellular substance of the muscles,
among the mucous solliculi of the tendons, or the
membranous receptacles and ducts of the larger
glands: — that their extremities or roots imbibe from
these cavities the moisture, exhaled there from the
ultimate arterial tubes, just as the lacteals, which
are the lymphatics of the mesentery, do on the con-
cave surface of the intestines ; and that the minute
imbibing vessels, by gradually opening one into
another, form, at length, a lymphatic trunk, fur-
nished with valves to prevent the return of its fluid,
and tending uniformly from the extremities and
from the viscera, to reconvey to the blood that

. * Bishop Hoadley was frequently styled by his adversaries^
the Rbpubligan Bishop; but tbe learned and admirable
Lowth^ in his Life of Wickham, calls him " the great ad-
vocate of dvil and religious liberty."

LIFE OF AKENSID£« 121

l3^niph, or that fine steam, with which they are kept
in perpetual moisture; a circumstance indispensable
to life and motion ; while, at the same time, th^
continual re-absorption of that moisture, by the
lymphatics, is no less necessary to preserve the
blood properly fluid, and to prevent the putrefac->
tion, which would inevitably follow, if this animal
vapour were suffered to stagnate in the cavities,
where it is discharged.^

This theory, Akenside asserts, he drew out for
himself; and before the delivery of which before
the College of Surgeons, no public mention had
been made. These observations, he goes on to
assure us, he did not print at the time. But a dis-
pute having, afterwards, aiisen between two other
gentlemen, who each claimed for himself the honour
of the discovery, Akenside was prevailed upon to
give in, at a meeting of the Royal Society, so much
of his lectures, as related to the subject in question.
This portion of the lectures was, in consequence,
laid before the Royal Society; and it being read
in the presence of several gentlemen, who had,
formerly, heard the lectures themselves, the paper
was published in the Philosophical Transactions by
the Council of the Royal Society. It was, there-
fore, with no small surprise and indignation, that

192 UFE OF AKENSIDE.

Akenside learnt, some time after, that Dr. Alexander
Munro, Professor of Anatomy at Edinburgh, had
published some Remarks, in a Postscript to a Pam-
phlet, entitled Observations, Anatomical and Phy-
siological ; insinuating, that Akenside did not dis-
cover his conjecture, relative to the lymphatic ves-
sels of animals, until Dr. Monro'*s Treatise on the
same lymphatics had been sent to England.

Akenside^s observations had been addressed to
the College of Surgeons in 1755. The publication
of them took place in 1757; Dr. Monro'^s Treatise
arrived in England in 1756. It was impossible^
therefore, that Akenside could have taken the idea
from Dr. Monro, as the statement of the latter im-
plied : — But had the observations been printed in
the Philosophical Transactions, without any testi-
mony to prove, that they had been previously read
before the College of Surgeons, Akenside would
have had no small trouble to convince the world,
that he was indeed the original discoverer. The me-
mory of Akenside has been, in fact, strangely neg-
lected by medical men ; and it will give me great
pleasure, should these pages become the humble
instrument of his being, hereafter, more adequately
appreciated.

I think it probable, that what was said of Dr.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 1S3

Garth might be, with equal justice, applied to Dr.
Akenside ; viz. — that no physician knew his art
more, nor his trade less*.

The year 1757 is remarkable in the life of Aken-
side, for his having completed the first book of his
second poem on the Pleasures of the Imagination.

In 1758 he wrote his Ode to the Country Gen-
tlemen of England. The poet-laureate, White-
head, also published ^^ verses to the people of Eng-
land,*^ at the same time ; in the same same form ;
and at the same price f.

" This ode,^ says Mr. Justice Hardinge, in a

• " Garth was a man," says Warton J, " of the sweetest
disposition^ amiable manners, and universal benevolence;
all parties, at a time when party violence was at a great
height, joined in praising and loving him." And here I
cannot deny myself the pleasure of quoting Pope's opinion of
the physicians of his time.

" There is no end of my kind treatment from the faculty,"
said be, in a letter to Mr. Allen a few weeks before he died.
** They are, in general, the most amiable companions, and
the best friends, as well as most learned men I know," He
can have but a very limited knowledge of society, who cannot
apply this to the medical men of the present age, as well as
to that which is passed.

t Quarto, sixpence.

} Ed. of Pope, Vol. I. p. 75.

124 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

letter to Mr. Nichols, " is unequal ; but it has glo-
rious passages in it. Mr.. Elliott, father of Lord
Minto, made an admirable speech in support of the
Scotch militia, which I had the good fortune to heiar,
when I was a boy :. and it was reported, that when
commended, as he was, on every side, for that per-
formance; — ' If I was above myself,' answered he,
' I can account for it ; for I had been animated by
the sublime ode of Dr. Akenside.'"

The criticisms of cotemporaries on eminent lite-
rary characters are of little authority, while those
characters are living ; but they become interesting
in the distant time. With this impression I insert
a criticism on this poem, from the Monthly Review.
*' The poetical productions of this twofold disciple
of Apollo" have this peculiar excellence; they

* This title was first given to Akenside in Cooper's Call
of Aristippus.

'* O thou, for whom the British bays

Bloom in these unpoetic days.
Whose early genius glow'd to follow

The arts through Nature's ancient waya.
Twofold disciple of ApoUo !

Shall Aristippus' easy lays,

Trifles of philosophic pleasure^

Composed in literary leisure.
Aspire to gain thy deathless praise? "

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 1S5

uniformly glow with the sacred fire of liberty ; in-
asmuch that our public-spirited doctor well deserves
to be styled the poet of the community. In this
light we have read his Ode to the Country Gentle-
men of England, with peculiar satisfaction. It is
spirited, manly, and sufficiently poetical, for those
to whom it is addressed ;— and as, in former times,
the halls of our rural ancestors were adorned with
passages from our old chronicles, so we heartily
wish, that most of the stanzas of this patriotic per-
formance were to supply the place, in our modern
mansions, of race-horses, Newmarket jockies, and
the trophies of the chase.^'

Soon after writing this poem, the author was
seized with a violent sickness ; to facilitate his re-
covery from which, he retired, for a short time, to
Groulder^s Hill, the seat of Mr. Dyson ; where he
had the satisfaction of hailing the arrival of a lady,
whom his friend had recently married. To this
agreeable circumstance he alludes in an ode, written
on the occasion of his recovery. Never, in fact, was

Another writer * says^ his Attic urn was

" Fill'd from Ilyssus by the Naiad's hand.

»*

Author of the £pistle to Christopher Anstey, Esq.

126 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

any friendship more beautiful than that, subsisting
between these excellent persons !

" While around his sylvan scene

My Dyson led the white- wing'd hours;
Oft from th' Athenian academic bowers
Their sages came ; oft heard our lingering walk ;
The Mantuan music, warbling o'er the green,—
And oft did TuUy's reverend shade.
Though much for liberty afraid.
With us of letter d ease or virtuous glory talk.

But OTHER GUESTS Were on their way.
And reach'd, ere long, this favour'd grove ;
Ev'n the celestial progeny of Jove,
Bright Venus ! with her all-subduing son.
Whose golden shaft roost willingly obey
The best and wisest As they came.
Glad Hymen waved his genial flame.
And sang their happy gifts, and praised their spotless throne.

I saw, when through yon festive gate
He led along his chosen maid.
And to my friend with smiles presenting said :
' Receive that fairest wealth, which Heaven assign'd
To human fortune. Did thy lonely state
One wish, one utmost hope, confess ?
Behold ! she comes t' adorn and bless;
Comes, worthy of thy heart, and equal to thy mind.' "

Though Akenside never married, it is evident
from many passages in his poems, that he was
sensibly alive to the comforts of a married' state.

LIFE OF AKENSIBE. 127

The loss of Parthenia occurred in early youth ; —
that of Olyrapia in maturer manhood :

'^ Far other vows must I prefer
To thy indulgent power ;
Alas ! hut now I paid my tear
On fair Olympiads virgin tomh>
And lo^ from thence^ in quest I roam
Of Philomela's hower."

Akenside, like many a valiant knight, had laughed
at love, when love was at a distance * ; but there
seems to have been no period of his life, in which
he was not sensible to its impressions. Parthenia and
Olympia he lost, when upon the eve of marriage
with them; but he celebrates other ladies, and
speaks of them even with affection ; Amoret f and
Melissa J. To which of these he alludes in his
ode, entitled the Complaint, we are left to con-
jecture.

" I know, I see
Her merit, needs it now be shown,

Alas ! to me ?
How often to myself unknown

* See particularly his Elegy on Love ; his Ode on Love ;
and his Ode to a Friend, unsuccessful in Love,
t Ode X. h. ii.
I P. of I. second poem, i. v. 366.

128 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

The graoefii], gentle^ virtuous maid
Have I admired ! How often said
What joy to call a heart like hers one's own T

The feelings of Akenside, at length, relapsed
almost into indifference ; but he was always alive
to the irksome destitution of comfort, which attends
a protracted life of celibacy. " Let the busy, or the
wiser says he, in one of his odes-

'^ Let the husy or the wise
View him with contemptuous eyes.

Love is native to the heart*
Guide its wishes as you will.
Without love you ^11 find it still
Void in one essential part.

Me, though no peculiar fair
Toiiches with a lover's care.

Though the pride of my desire
Asks immortal Friendship's name.
Asks the palm of honest fame.

And the old heroic lyre ;

Though the day have smoothly gone.
Or to letter d leisure known,

Or in social duty spent,
Yet, at eve, my lonely breast
Seeks in vain for perfect rest.

Languishes for true content."

Akenside's respect for women peeps out every
where. In one passage he calls them " chief of ter-
restrial nature,"

LIFE OF AK£NSIDE. 1S9

«

" What sublimer pomp

Adorns the sect^ where Virtue dwells on earthy
And Truth's eternal day-light shines around ;
What palm belongs to Man*s imperial front.
And Woman, powerful with becoming smiles.
Chief of terrestrial nature! need we now
Strive to inculcate?"

Having, in a former page, alluded to Dr. John-
^n's slender appreciation of Akenside^s Hymn to
the Naiads, we may now insert his opinion in re-
gard to the odes. But iSrst in respect to the Plea-
sures of the Imagination.

" Mr. Murphy said, * the Memoirs of Gray's
Life set him much higher in his estimation than
his poems did; for you there saw a man con-
stantly at work in literature.' Johnson acquiesced
in this, but depreciated the book ; I thought very
unreasonably : for he said, ^ I forced myself to read
it, only, because it was the common topic of con«
versation. I found it mighty dull ; and as for the
style, it was fit for the second table.' Why he
thought so, I was at a loss to conceive. He now
gave it as his opinion, that Akenside was a superior
poet both to Gray and Mason."

<^ I see they have published a splendid edition
of Akenside's works," said Johnson^ on another

K

130 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

oecasion : " one bad ode may be su£Pered ; but a
number of them makes one sick."

" Akenside'*s distinguished poem is on the Ima-
gination,^ answered Boswell ; " but for my part, I
never could admire it, so much as most people do.''

" Sir," said Johnson, " I could not read it
through."

^* I have read it through,'' returned Boswell,
" but I could observe no great power in it."

That Johnson^ — who does not appear to have en-
joyed much pleasure from the higher orders either
of poetry, painting, music, or architecture, — should
not be able to read the Pleasures of the Imagina-
tion through, is not much to be wondered at ;—
that Boswell should have been able to recognize no
great power in it is still less to be admired : since
beauty and grandeur do not so much exist in the
objects observed, as in the mind, observing.

The fame of Akenside, as a physician, seems
tiow to have acquired some stability. In January,
1759, he was appointed assistant physician to St.
Thomas's Hospital, and two months after principal
physician ; and in the same year assistant physician
to Christ's Hospital.

The next year, 1760, was distinguished by the

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 181

publication of sn oration*, delivered before the
College of Surgeons. The title stands thus :

'^ Oratio anniversaria, quam ex Harveii intiiiutio in
Theatro CoUegii Regalis medicorum Londinensis, die Oct.
xviii. A» MDCCLIX, habuit Marcus Akenside, M. D, Coll,
Medm et Reg, Societ. Socios. Dodsley. MDCCLX"

This oration was dedicated to Dr. Reeve : —

*

*' Firo eximio Thomw Reeve, M, D. Prcesidi dignissimOy
et sociis doctissimia CoUegii Regalis Medicorum Londinensis,
kanc orationem illorum Jussu editam, D, 2>. D, Marcus
Akensidef'*

A copy of this work Akenside, soon after pub-
lication, sent as a present to Dr. Birch, who left it
to the British Museum ; in the library of which it

* Dodsley, 4to. One Shilling.

f '^ Pope has not, in his art of criticism, followed the
examples of the ancients, in addressing their didactic poems
to some particular person ; as Hesiod to Perses ; Lucretius to
Memmius; Virgil to Mecsnas; Horace to the Pisos; Ovid, his
Fasti, to (xermanicus ; Oppian to Caracalla. In later times
Fracastorius addressed P. Bembo; Vida the Dauphin of
France. But neither Boileau in his art, nor Roscommon,
nor Buckingham, in their Essays, nor Armstrong, nor Ak£n-
siDE, have followed this practice." Wartons Pope, i. 270.

This error of Warton, in respect to Akenside, may be cor«
rected by referring to page 32.

x2

18S LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

still remaiDS, with the following MS. memorandum r
Tho, Birch, donum authorise Martii 20, 1760.

We may here devote a short space to Mr. Jus-
TiCE Hardinge. " The first I can recollect of
my own personal acquaintance with Dr. Akenside's
name and muse,*^ says he, in a letter to Mr. Nichols,
*' was my father's recital to me, when I was a boy
at Eton school, of the Invocation to Ancient Greece,
in that celebrated poem, which has been so depre-
ciated by Dr. Johnson, that I fear no error of judg-*
ment and of taste, manifest in that criticism, can
redeem the censure from heavier imputations. This
inspired passage, as I think still, was recommended
additionally to me by the charm of recitation, in
which not even Garrick himself couid be superior
to Mr. Nicholas Hardinge, though he had no
musical ear. But his reading and i-epeaiing ear,
if I may use that phrase, was exquisite. It is very
singular, but it is true, that Akenside was not a
good reader of his own verse.^ Nor were Addison
or Thomson. Virgil, on the contrary, was a very
fine reader.

Mr. Justice Hardinge was a very peculiar person;
and left behind him the character of ^^ possessing,
rather than profiting by great talents." He had a
very expressive countenance, and was possessed of

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 133

an admirable temper : his manners were playful, and
his zeal, in favour of those he protected, is said to
have been ardent and unremitting. He was nephew
to the great Lord Camden ; many years solicitor
to Queen Charlotte; and one of the justices for the
counties of Glamorgan, Radnor^ and Brecon. He had
a due knowledge of legal subjects : but his manner
in court was, occasionally, intemperate and not suf-
ficiently dignified. His charges, however, were
greatly admired. Having been some years connected
with the principality, I have frequently heard his
addresses to grand-jurymen ; and could not but be
greatly struck with the elegance of his manner, the
force of his declamation, the pliability of his deport-
ment, and his happy facility in making classical allu-
6ions. The manner in which he delivered his charge,
in respect to Napoleon, I shall never forget*.

•*' Here, at this period of oar intercourse, I should part
jvith you, but for the times They call upon me with an
imperious voice, to animate the high spirit of the day,
under your wing, if it should be the last breath of my life.
That high spirit beams upon us with a golden ray of hope,
that we have a deliverance at hand from the base impostor,
as well as the usurping tyrant, of the continent, who
would have degraded us and you, if the hand- writing o^
the wall had not convinced him, that slavery and lifp
.never can be reconciled in British adversaries. The most
enlightened city of the civilized world, which is, in other

134 LIFE OF AKEHSIDE.

He was, also, a poet and a critic; of which afew
specimens may not be disagreeable ; since he was a
friend, and, for the most part, a great admirer of

words^ to name the Citt of London^ has conntersignedy
with all the sanction of its proud name, and with all die
eloquenoe of its pnhlic spirit^ oar interesting appeal to
the God of hattles in the patriot anny of Spain. Upon
similar occasions I haye attested yoor zeal for your king,
and for his goyeminent, when your independent mind has
approved their conduct. In honour to that independence,
I dare not to recommend; hut I have the courage to express
a sanguine hope^ that you will not part, before you have
pledged congenial sentiments in your address to the king,
and through him to the country, which I will gratefully and
proudly forward unto his majesty's hand. We are not only
enlisted in the same host, but we are enrolled in the same
principle, which is British at the heart's core. It is the
cause of native rights and of national independence; it is
the generous hatred of a tyrant, whom nothing but the sword
can meet — who violates every engagement— betrays every
confidence — has polluted every thing he has touched — and
is, in a human shape, the pestilence not only of the legitimate
government, but of the moral world. He has been com-
pared, by depraved or timid sycophants, to Alexander and
Cfesar. The compliment is basely false: those criminal
heroes, in their frenzy of ambition, had lucid intervals of
clemency, of graceful conduct, and of social virtue:— nothing
of the kind has yet escaped from him. His resemblance to
our usurper, Cromwell, is a little more close ; but he was an
observer of treaties, and kept his enemies at bay by his arms
— not by the tenor of his friendship,— the worst of all this
tyrant's enmities.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 135

the poet, whose life and mind I have undertaken to
delineate.

*' Amongst his accumulated perfidies^ let me offer to your
notice (in a bird's-eye view) his conduct in Spain :—

' Show me his picture ! Let me see his eyes !
That when I note another man like him^
1 may avoid him/

He was the ally of Spain->he was debtor to that power for
important services— he obtained its confidence. He disunited
the king from the heir-apparent^ his own son — he made that
son his hero— he fomented this family discord into a civil
war. He then took upon himself the office of mediator^ with
,an army at his heels, erected an intermediate government in
a subordinate janissary's hand, and poured his French troops
into the capital of the empire. He took the king, the heir-
apparent, and the queen of Spain, with him ; he bound them
hand and foot j he made the king and his heir successively
abdicate their crown, when they were as free as the felon,
who is confined in your gaol ; he made— oh infamy of horror !
— this queen bastardize her own legitimate son, and branded
herself as a d^aded prostitute ! He then quoted those very
infamies against them in Spain, as proving them unworthy to
return, and base to their country. Opposed in these detestable
perfidies, he murdered thousands of Spaniards in cold blood;
and at last insulted that high-spirited nation with his in-
famous brother's election, by him, to the vacant throne !

'' It is this man we are to fight ; our own deliverance and
that of Europe are combined— we are to fight him locally in
Spain. But I address men of good sense, equal to their high
spirits. They will follow me in the sentiment, that Spain is
Britain, that her cause will be felt in every inch of her coast,
and of the island we inhabit."

1S6 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

0IKT8 OF THE WELSH JUIKSe's CATAL&T*.

'' The Fates have doom'd without remorse
Me, — to an old and wheezing horse^—
Unless, to shift the parted hlame^
I take another, which is lame.
A miiror of the rider^s fate
Appears in his equestrian state;
It's like Ins fortune's lingering death, —
It's lame, — it's old, — it's out of breath,"

In another poem he fables, that he, one day, saw
his full-bottomed wig, stripped of its curls, and
swept into a corner of a passage ; — upon which, he
addressed the disconsolate judicial ornament, as if
it could hear and speak :

" Emhlem of all state and power.
Wing and feather of an hour !
Injured curl ! whose awful trace
Once adorn'd a Judge's face ;
Once, as frightened Cambria saw.
Was the Dignity of Law ;
When its penthouse overhung
The Judicial Pedant's tongue ;
And his venerable head
Could assume the weight of lead.

* He generally rode the circuit; and every now and then
took pleasure in disappointing the sheriffs, by taking a by-
road into the town, in which he was, the moment after his
arrival, to sit as Chief Judge. He is' still remembered in
South Wales; particularly amongst the ladies.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 137

Tlien his thunder could appal

Guilt-conyicted in the Hall;

Then^ with a becoming fury^

He could reprobate a jury ;

Or could point his whipping wrath

At a Felon's table'Cloth *.

Then protection he could pledge

To a rag upon a hedge.

Now the comb^ as in despair^

Shuns the abdicated hair;

And the Maid's oblivious broom

Seems to ridicule the doom.

From the lethargy of rest

Who shall raise thy dormant crest?

April soon will pass away ;

Oh, beware \he first ofMayM

Rather warn the felon crows.

Where the ripening herbage grows ;

Where, though mute, thy sapient form

Still its terrors can reform ;

Than degrade thee out of Court>

For the gazer's common sport ;

Prohibiting all thy power

To the moVs insulting hour.

* " He had censured a jury for acquitting a murderer;
and had sentenced a man to be whipped for stealing a tables
doth from a hedge."

t ^^ Nothing is more shamefuUy familiar upon these Sa-
turnalia to the common eye, than a judge's wig upon the
face of a chimney-sweeper,"

1S8 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

Thus when hair again was grown>
Samson made his prowess known^
To derision's cruel mirth^
By its immolated worth."

EPITAPH ON HIMSELF.

Here 's the old Boy, whose heart was never cold^
Fond as in youth, when all the rest was old.
He without pain from house and land could part ;
But if he lost a rhyme, it hroke his heart.
In yanities gay Villiers he surpass'd.
The new-horn whims improving on the last :
Yet has this lunatic one truth impress'd—
That Fools are happy y and thai life *s a jest*'

€<

As a specimen of criticism we may select the fol-
lowing letter addressed to Mr. Mudford : —

*^ I am not such an enthusiast for Lokd Bfron as
you are, and I confess that I think Walteb Scott
very superior to him ; — Crabbe, though a mannerist,
is a particular favourite of mine. Kogers and Camp-
bell have a thousand beauties. Lord Byron is un-
questionably a gifted creature, full of genius, fancy, and
poetical effect ; but he is desultory and unequal. His
thoughts are often bold and original; his expressions
happy and striking ; but he is often quaint and forced
in liis images, at least as / think. But you must not
kill me, if I say in my old age, I almost begin to think
that taste, as it is called, in our judgment of the Muse,

LIP£ Of* AKlSNSIDE. .139

has more whim than solidity^ and that our ear Is often
too imperious to be governed by rules. Nothing can
be more unlike than Gbay and Cowfer ; yet I am
enraptured of them both. I am wicked enough to think
Dbyden very superior to Popb. Pbiob and Waller,
in some of their playful graces, enchant me; but I
cannot admire Mason or Thomson."

I have paid the greater attention to Mr. Har-
dinge *, because he brings a charge against Aken-
side of political apostacy.

It is certain that Mr. Dyson forsook his party,
and became a tory ; but it does not appear that
Akenside, whatever his friend might do, ever for-
sook his principles; at least, his second poem on
the Pleasures of Imagination is, to the full, as
remarkable for a fine glow of liberty as the first.
Two or three passages may be supposed to militate
against this opinion ; but, I think, they will, in no
respect, bear an interpretation hostile to the prin-
ciples, by which Akenside seems always to have
been governed. Mr. Hardinge thought otherwise.
" I must not forget to mention," says he, " perhaps
the most curious feature of his life. It is in the

• He died at Presteigne, April 16, 1816, in the 7J2d year
of his age.

140 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

partial, but very awkward change, which Aken-
side*s new politics at court made in those of the
poet. You will find a memorable proof to this
point. In the first edition of the work these lines
appear:

'* Wilt thou^ kind Hannony, descend^
And join the festive train : for with thee comes
Migestic Truth ; and where Truth deigns to come^
Her sister^ Liherty^ will not be far."

And in the second edition,

" For with thee comes

* Wise order; and where order deigns to conie^
Her sister Liberty will not be far."

I confess, I see no derogation of principle here:
Order being the sister of Liberty as well as Truth ;
and both, as it were, the parents of that Harmony,
the poet celebrates.

In the first edition of the ode " On leaving Hol-
land,'' the poet says—

'* I go where Freedom in the streets is known,
And tells a monarch on his throne^
Tells him, he reigns, he lives, but by her voice.

n

* In the MS. corrected poem the following line is intro-
duced:

** The guide^ the guardian^ of their mystic rites."

LIFE OF AkENStDE. 141

In the last edition —

'^ I go where Liberty to all is known,
And tells a monarch on his throne^
He reigns not but by her preserving voice**

Surely there is no difference here, that can be
twisted into any, — even the slightest, — ^variation of
isentiment. Neither is there any thing of import-
ance in the alteration, made in his Ode to the Earl
of Huntingdon : —

" But here, where freedom's equal throne^
To all her valiant sons are known ;
Where all direct the sword, she wears,
And each the power which rules him shares."

In the subsequent editions (third line),

*' Where all are conscious of her caresJ^

No one can have a greater contempt for the ad*
ministration of Lord Bute than I have; but Mr.
Dyson might have been a supporter of that mini*
ster, and yet Akenside remain innocent of the
change. That courtly acquaintance might have an
influence on the mind of a physician, desirous of
practice, is not to be wondered at; but that he
ever became as zealous a partisan of the Tories, as
he had been of thfr Whigs, is not only not to be
credited, but is an assertion, that bears within

142 UFE OF AKENSIDE.

itself the balance of a contradiction. For, had he
been as zealous a lover of too extended an autho-
rity, as he had previously been of Liberty and a
due administration of the laws, he would, like
many, — I had almost sidd most, — of his poetical
brethren, have left something better bdbind him^
wherewith to mark the change, than some of the
finest sentiments, that human language will admit
of. I have, I say, a strong dislike to the me«
mory of the Bute and North administrations;
but I still think, that a physician might be so
prudent as not to offend a party, which had ad-
vanced him ; and yet remain a decided enemy to
the foes of his country, whether from within or
from without.

Even so late as 1770, the year in which he died,
Akenside wrote lines; than which nothing can
breathe a purer spirit, or be indicative of a more
exalted imagination.

^' Nor shall e'er

The graver tasks of manhood, or th' advice
Of vulgar wisdom move me to disclaim
Those studies, which possessed me in the dawn
Of life^ and fix'd the colour of my mind.
For every future year."

P. /. Second Poem, iv. v. 46.

In his third book, too, — ^finished long after the

LIFE QE AKENSIDE. 143

period of which we have been lately speaking, with
what contempt and ridicule does he visit—

** The abject soul.

Who, blushing, half resigns the candid praise
Of temperance and honour ; half disowns
A freeman's hatred of tyrannic pride.
And hears, with sickly smiles, the venal mouth.
With foulest licence, mock the patriot's name*."

P. J. Second Poem, L 222.

Indeed, that his love of true liberty had become,
in no degree, impaired by political associations, is
not only evident from the passages above quoted,
but from the circumstance of the whole episode of
Solon having been written with no other design,
than that of showing the influence, which poetry
has in duly enforcing the cause and interests of
freedom.

In the second poem there is an alteration, strikingly
confirmative of the preceding observations: — pre-
vious to exhibiting which, however, I shall state an

* His contempt of flattery, when addressed to tyrants, is
amply shown in his appreciation of Horace :

" Whose verse adom'd a tyrant's crimes;
Who saw majestic Rome betray'd.
And lent the imperial ruffian aid.'

f»

144 LIFE OF AKENSIBE.

alteration, which occurs in the MS. corrected copy
of the first.

OBIOINAL.

*' Nor be my thoughts

n

Presumptuous counted^ if amid the calm^
That soothes this yemal evening into smiles,
i steal, impatient, from the sordid haunts
Of sTAiTE and low ambition, to attend
Thy sacred presence in the sylvan shade.
By their malignant footsteps ne'er profaned.

MS. CORBECTIOK.

^' If I from supebstition's gloomy haunts
Impatient steal, and from th' unseemly rites
Of barbarous domination, to attend
With hymns thy presence in the lonely shades,
By their malignant footsteps unprofaned.'

M

In the Second Poem :

*' If I, from vulgar superstition's walk.
Impatient, steal, and from th' unseemly rites
Of splendid adulation, to attend
With hymns," &c.

These alterations are very curious. First, he
desires to steal from strife and low ambition ; then
from the gloomy haunts of superstition and domi-
nation ; lastly, not only from the haunts of ambition,
but the unseemly rites of splendid adulation^ The

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 145

first denotes, the period of youth, when life was
opening upon him in the midst of low-minded per-
sons ; the next, when he had entered the high career
of existence, and was, no doubt, taunted with the
thoughts he bore to the exquisite advantages of
universal toleration ; the last when he had entered
the precincts of a court, and saw flattery assume a
form, that could not be otherwise than revolting to
an elegant and noble mind.

In 1763, Akenside communicated the following
account of a blow and its effects upon the heart,
to the Royal Society, where it was read Dec. 22,
iand soon after published in the Philosophical Trans-
actions.

'' On the 11th of September, 1762, Richard Rennet,
a lad about fourteen years of age, was brought to a con-
sultation of the physicians and surgeons of St. Thomas's
hospital. His disorder was a palpitation of the heart \
so very violent to the touch, that we all concluded it to
be an aneurism, and without remedy. He had a fre-
quent cough. His pulse was quick, weak, and uneven;
but not properly intermitting. It was apparent that
nothing could be done, farther than by letting blood in
small quantities, and by the use of emollient pectoral
medicines, to lessen, now and then, however inconsider-
ably, the extreme danger to which he was continually

L

146 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

subject. He was taken into the hospital diat same da]r>
being Saturday; and treated according to what had
been agreed upon. But on the Tuesday morning fol-*
lowing he died, without any previous alarm or alteration.
" The origin of his complaint was a blow> which he
had received six months before^ from the master whom
he served^ as a waiter in a public-house. The master
owned^ that he had pushed him slightly on the left side
with his hand. The boy informed us, that he himself
was then carrying a plate under his arm ; and that the
blow or push from his master drove the edge of the
plate forcibly between two of his ribs. He was imme-
diately very ill ttom the hurt ; sick, and in great pain*
His mother, also, informed us, that she thought the pal-
pitation was more violent about a fortnight after the
accident, than when we examined him. The day after
the blow, they took eight ounces of blood from his arm ;
about three weeks after that they again opened a vein,
but got not much from it ; and three weeks from thence,
they let him blood the last time to the amount of eight
ounces. He began to have a cough soon after the hurt,
with frequent spittings of blood in very large quantities;
and had nocturnal sweats almost the whole six months^
during which he survived the blow. About four months
after it, there came over the umbilical region of the
abdomen, a livid appearance like a mortification : but it
went off gradually, and at length vanished. He had
nothing particular in his habit of body or state of health;
save that, about a year before this accident, he had been
Crippled with the rheumatism. He was, when we Saw

UFE OF AKENSIDE. 147

liiin> a good deal reduced ; but had not a hectic nor a
consumptive look.

" On the day of his death Mr. Cowell opened him ;
when^ to our great surprise^ we found no aneurism^ nor
the least extravasation of the blood, either from the
cavities of the heart, or the large vessels. But on the
left ventricle of the heart, near its apex, there was a
livid spot, almost as large as a half-crown piece, bruised
and jelly-like; the part underneath being mortified
quite to the cavity of the ventricle. From thence up-
ward, toward the auricle, there went several livid specks
and traces of inflammation, tending in like manner to
gangrene. The heart did also, through its whole sur-
fifice, adhere very closely to the pericardium ; and the
whole outer surface of the pericardium as closely to the
lungs. The other viscera were quite sound.

'^ So that the mischief here was properly a contusion
of the heart ; the edge of the plate having struck it, pro-
bably at the instant of its greatest diastole. This pro-
duced an inflammation on its surface, followed by a
gangrene, and terminating in that double adhesion : by
which the whole heart was fast tied up ; till, on this
account, as well as by reason of the mortification, it was
no longer able to circulate the blood."

In 1764, Akenside published the most important
of his medical works ; viz. De Dysenteria Comr-
mentariua*. On this work the medical fame of

* De Dysenteria Commentarins. Auctore Marco Aken-
side, Coll. Med. Lcndin. Socio. Reg. Societ. Sodali, et Magnie

L

tfM

118 UFE OF AKENSIDE.

Akenside prindpally rests. The dysentery seems
to have been very little understood before his time^
and he attributes the causes to nearly the same as
those of the rheumatism, between which, he insists,
there is a great affinity. Hence he calls the bloody
flux a rheumatism of the intestines*; and he re-
commends, as a cure, the bleeding of persons of
a full habit ; and certain portions of ipecacuanha.
To cure the diarrhoea, which so frequently succeeds
the flux, he recommends particularly one ounce of
fresh mutton suet, melted in a pint of boiling milk.
The causes of the action of ipecacuanha on the
subjects of this distemper, he resolves into its
aperient power, and its faculty of relaxing the coats
of the intestines^ and thence abating the violence of

^ritannife Reginae Medico. Londini : apud R. et I. Doddey.

MDCCLXIV.

Table of Contents :
Cap. I. De dysenteric historia. 30 pp.

II. De dysentericorum curatione. 27 pp.

III. De causis dysenterise. 16 pp.

IV. De actione ipecacoanhse in dysentericos. 15 pp.

* " Denique banc morborum similitudinem toties jam
observavi et perspexi^ ut Dysenteriam jamdudum pro Rheu-
matismo intestinorum habeam,— lios vero^ id Tocabulum ^
doloribus artuum et musculorum ad intestina transferendo,
similem plane utriusque morbi causam et materiam esse
£ontendimus,"

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 149

the tenesmus. In short, he supposes it to possess d
kind of anodyne and antispasmodic virtue, which no
other opiate possesses in this distemper ; which he^,
contrary -to the opinions of Sydenham *, and Boerr
haave, whoqi he styles — ** ingeniossimus et can-
didissimus,'*' and Meadf, thinks ought seldom to be
classed among acute diseases |.

The latinity pf this work is singularly pure and
elegant; and to advance a knowledge of its con-
tents, Dr. Ryan undertook to translate it; but thigt
version being faulty in many respects, Mr. Motteuit
attempted it: neither versions, however, are re*
xnarkable for style, or even for a close adherence to
the author's text.

In 1766, Akenside published his ode to Thomas
Edwabds, Esq.* It was printed in folio, published

• Vid. Observat de Morb. Acut^ sect. i. c 2, sect iv. c. 3.

t Vid. Monita et Praecept. Med. c. vii. sect 1.

X The use of ipecacuanha in this disorder appears to have
been some time known on the Continent ; for we read in the
life of Helvetius, p. vi., that Adrian, grandfather to Hel-
yetius, gained great reputation in Holland, by discovering
a cure for the dysentery by the exhibition of ipecacuanha.
Vid. also Piso, de Indias utriusque re Ndiuraii et MedicOf
/' Drachmae dus radicis ipecacuanha in 3iiij liquoris appro-
priati cocts, vel per noctem macerate, cujus infusum cum
vd sine oxymelis 3j exhibetur." — Lib. ii. c. ix. The Am-
sterdam edition, which is by far the best, has it c. xi.

150 LIFE OF AKBNSIDE.

by Doddey, and sold for sixpence. This ode had
been written as early as 1751 ; and it has created
mrprise, that he should have so long withheld
the publication. Doubtless, his anger against
Dr. Warburton had long subsided; but War-
burton, now become Bishop of Gloucester, inflamed
it again by publishing a new edition of the Divine
Legation of Moses, with the obnoxious postscript
he had before appended to his preface ; and that,
too, without any reference to the arguments, which
had been adduced on the other side, — a practice not
unusual with the learned bishop, who seems to have
thought, on most occasions, that an attack vpoa
him, even when in self-defence, was as great a crime
as treason against the state. ^^ And yet, who is
Dr. Warburton ?^ inquired Mr. Edwards, *^ what
is his birth, and whence his privilege? that the
reputations of men, both living and dead, of men
in birth, character, station, in every instance of true
worthiness, much his superiors, must lie at the
mercy of his petulant satire, to be backed and
mangled, as his ill-mannered spleen shall prompt
him ; while it shall be unlawful for any body, under
penalty of degradation, to laugh at the unscholarlike
blunders, the crude and far-fetched conceits, the
illiberal and indecent reflectioiis, which be has en-

LIFIi OF AKENSIBE. 161

deavoured, with so much self-sufficiency and arro-
gance^ to put off upon the world, as a standard of
true criticism*.''

Mb, Edwabds was descended from a family,
which had, for many years, been settled at Pitz-
hanger, in the county of Middlesex. He was edu-
cated at Eton ; whence he rentoved to King's Col-
lege, Cambridge; but after graduating there some
time, he determined, since his fortune was limited,
neither to study the law, divinity, nor physic ; but
to enter the army. He afterwards altered his plan,
quitted the military lifi^, entered himself at Lincoln's
Inn, and, after the usual terms, w^s called to the bar.

At this period Akenside became acquainted with
him; and their acquaintance soon ripened into
esteem, and thence into friendship. Mr. Edwards^
like his associate, was an accomplished scholar.
His manners were mild and bland, and his dispo3i-
tion affectionate to the last degree. He was the
last of hi3 family; and as the sonnet, he wrote on
seeing a family picture, which brought to his recoU
lection the melancholy circumstance of his having
lost four brothers, and four sisters, is remarkable fc^
an elegant and pathetic simplicity, I shall quote it.

* Cftoons of Cridfiism. Pref. 7, 34 ^d. 17^0.

15S JLIFE OF AKENSIDE.

»
ON A FAMILY PICTURE.

" When pensiye on that portraiture I gaze^

Where my four Brothers round ahout me stand *
And four fair Sisters smile with graces bland.
The goodlier monument of happier days ;
And think^ how soon insatiate Death, who preys
On all, has cropp'd the rest with ruthless hand^
While only I survive of all that hand^
Which one chaste bed did to my father raise;

It seems that like a column left alone^
The tottering remnant of some splendid fane,
'Scaped from the fury of the barb'rous Gaul,
And wasting time, which has the rest o'erthrown^
Amidst our house's ruin I remain.
Single, unprop'd, and nodding to my fall."

Besides this sonnet, Mr. Edwards wrote manj
others ; several of which are preserved in Dodslej^
Pearch'^s, and Nichols' collections. But the work,
which raised him to a rank with men of letters,
was his Canons of Ckiticism, writteii in direct
hostility to Warburton, on his having published
an edition of Shakspeare ;— nan edition which laid
jthe reverend editor but too justly open to critical
retaliation.

Between Dr. Warburton and Mr. Edwards there
had, for some time, existed a very strong mutual
dislike; the cause of which is thus stated in the

LIFE OF akenside; 153

Gentleman's Magazine *. " Being at Bath, some
time after he went into the army, Mr. Edwards,
not long after the marriage of Warburton with Mr.
Allen's -f" niece, was introduced en famxUe. The
conversation was, not unfrequently, turning on lite-
rary subjects, and Warburton generally took the
opportunity of showing his superiority in Greek ;
not having the least idea, that an officer in the
army understood any thing of that language; —
till, one day, being accidentally in the library,
Mr. Edwards took down a Greek author, and
explained a passage in it in a manner, that War*
burton did not approve. This occasioned no small

♦ Vol. liii. p. 288.

f Mr. Allen was a man of plain good sense, and the most
benevolent temper. He rose to great consideration by farm*
ing tbe cross-posts \ which he put into the admirable order^
in which we now find them ; very much to the public advan-
tage^ as well as his own. He was of that generous disposi*
tion^ that his mind enlarged with his fortune ; and the wealthy
he so honourably acquired^ he spent in a splendid ho8pi.>
tality^ and the most extensive charities. His house^ in so
public a scene^ as that of Bath, was open to all men of rank
and worth, and especially to men of distinguished parts and
learning \ whom he honoured and encouraged ; and whose
respective merits he was enabled to appreciate by a natural
discernment and superior good sense, rather than any ac-
quired use and knowledge of letters. His domestic virtues
were beyond all praise.— ir«rtiV Life of fFarburton, p* 4^.

154 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

contest ; and Mr* Edwards (who had now disco^
yered to Warburton, how he came by his know^
ledge) endeavoured to convince him, that he did
not understand the original language ; and hinted
that his knowledge arose from French translations*
Warburton was highly irritated; an incurable
breach took place ; and this trifling altercation (after
Mr. Edwards had quitted the army, and was en-
tered of Lincoln^s Inn) produced the Canons of
Criticism.''

This work is not now often referred to; the
occasion, for which it was written, having passed
away ; but as its table of contents exhibits no slight
degree of that species of humour, for which Swift
has been so greatly celebrated? I shall give ai| ab-
stract of it in a note *•

* A professed critic has a right to 4eclare^ that his author
wrote whatever he ought to have written^ with as much de<»
termination, as if be had been at bis elbow' ; that he has a
light to alter any passage he does not understand*^ and that
these alterfitions he may make, in spite of the e^iKitness of the
measures.

Where he does not like an expressiop, ^nd cannot mend
it, he may abuse his author for it«} or he may condemn it as
an idle interpolations. As every author is to be corrected into
all possible perfection^ j and of that perfection the critic i^

»Canons, p. I. »p. 5. »p,«4. <p,30. 5p.3g. *p, 34

LIFE OF AKENSIDE, 155

Dr. Warton says of these Canons, '* all impartial
critics allow, that they remain unrefuted and un-
answerable."

the sole judge^ it follows^ as a matter of course^ that he may
alter afly word or phrase^ which does not want amendment,
or which will do, provided he can think of any thing, vhich
he imagines will do better. He may, also, find out obsolete
words^ or coin new ones, and put them in the place of such
as he does not like, or does not understand K

He may prove a reading, or support an explanation by any
sort of reading, good or bad, provided he likes it '5 he may
interpret his author, so as to make him mean directly con-
trary to what he says'; he is imder no necessity of allowing
any poetical licences, which he does not understand^ ; and
he may make any amendments, however foolish; and give
any explanations, whether those explanations are wanted or
not^ provided he can, by those amendments or explanations,
enhance the value of his critical skill s.

He may discover any immoral meaning in his author,
where there does not appear to be any hint of the kind^: he
is under no obligation himself to attend to such trivial matters
as orthography or pointing; but he may ridicule, as much
as he pleases, such trivial errors in othersT. Yet, when he
pleases to condescend to such matters, he may value himself
upon it ; and not only restore lost puns, but point out such
quaintn^ses, where, perhaps, the author never thought of
them^ He may explain a difficult passage by words, ab-
solutely unintelligible 9; and he may contradict himself for

» Canons, p. 42. « p. 58. ■ p. 83. * p. 94. * p. 96.
«p. 98. 7 p. 101. 8 p. 104. 9 108.

156 LIFE OF akenside;

Akenade had not forgotten the contemptuous
manner in which his theory, in respect to the sub->
ject of ridicule, had been treated by AVarburton^
The Canons of Criticism, therefore, united him

the sake of showing his critical skill on both sides ' ; and he
should take care to be provided, beforehand, with a good
number of pedantic and abusive expressions, to throw about
upon proper occasions ^

He may explain his author, or any former editor of him,
by supplying such words, or pieces of words, or marks, as he
may think fit for that purposes; and he may use the very
same reasons for confirming his own observations, which he
has disallowed in his adversary «.

As the design of writing notes is not so much to explain
the author's meaning, as to display the critic's knowledge s ;
it may be proper, to show his universal learning, that be
minutely point out from whence every metaphor and allusion
is taken. It will be, also, especially if he be a married man,
proper, in order to show the greatness of bis wit, to take
every opportunity of sneering at the fair sex ^:— he may mis-
quote himself, or any body else, in order to make an occasion
of writing notes, when he cannot otherwise find one 7; and,
lest he may not furnish a proper quota to his bookseller, he
may write notes out of nothing"; and lastly 9, he may dispense
with truth at all times, and in any manner agreeable to him-
self, provided, by these violations, he can give the world a
higher opinion, than it would otherwise entertain, that he is
a man of great parts.

• Canons, p. 1 10. « p. 1 12. s p. 114. 4 p. 1I8. s p. 119.
« p. 128. 7 p. 132. 8 p, 134 9 p. 141.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 157

paore intimately with Mr, Edwards. For as War^
burton's attack upon his philosophy had produced
some effects, little favourable to his fame as a poet,
he feared it might also, perhaps, prove, in some
degree, injurious to him as a physician.

Why he delayed the publication of his ode for
so long a period as fifteen years, viz. from 1751 to
1766, does not appear ; but when he did publish it,
it produced eflFects, very important for a time, to
the fame of a critic, who had revelled in the almost
unlimited authority, which he took pleasure in
establishing within the empire of criticism. For,
in a note, appended to this ode, Akenside roundly
charged the right reverend critic with having zeal-*
ously cultivated the friendship of Theobald and
Concanen with the rest of the tribe, who confe*
derated against Pope. In proof of which, he pro-
duced a letter, which had been written by War-
burton in 1726. " This letter,"' says Akenside^^
" was found in the year 1750, by Dr. Gavin Knight^
first librarian to the British Museum, in fitting up
a house, which he had taken in Crane-court, Fleet-
street. The house had, for a long time before, been
let in lodgings, and in all probability, Concanen had
icdged there. The original letter has been many
years in my possession, and is here most, exactly

168 LIFE OF AUNSIDE*

Gopiedi with its several little peculiarities in grammar^
spelling, and punctuation.-*— u^jTrt^dO, 1766. Jtf. A^

Letter from Mr. W. WarburUm io Mr. M. Con*

amen.

'' Dedr Sir,
" Having had no more regard for those papers^ which
I spoke of and promised to Mr. Theohald> than just
what they deserved^ I in vain sought for them through a
number of loose papers that had the same kind of abor-
tive birth. I used to make it one good part of mj
amusement in reading the English poets^ those of them
I mean whose view flows regularly and constantly^ as
well as dearly^ to trace them to their sources; and
observe what oar^ as well as what slime and gravel they
brought down with them. Dryden I observe borrows
£or want of leasure^ and Pope for want of Genius;
Milton out of pride^ and Addison out of modesty.
And now I speak of this latter^ that you and Mr.
Theobald may see of what kind those Idle collections
are^ and likewise to give you my notion of what we may
Safely pronounce an Imitation^ for it is not I presume
the same train of Ideas^ that follow in the same descrip-
tion of an Ancient and a modern^ where nature autoriae
us to pronounce the latter an Imitation^ for the most
judicious of all poets, Terence^ has observed of his own
science^ ' Nihil est dictum, quod non sit dictum prius :'
for these reasons I say I give myselfe the pleasure of
setting down some imitations I observed in the Cato of
Addison.

UFE OF AKEMSIDE. 169

' A day, an hour of virtttoua liberty
l8 worth a trholo eternity ill bondage/

Act IL ^. 1.

' TULLY.

' Quod si immoriaiitas consegueretur praaentis periculi
Jtigam^ iamen eo magis eafugienda esse videretur, quo dittm
tumior esset serviius/'^FBiurr, Ob. 10.

^ADDISON.

' Bid him disband his l^ons^
Restore the commonwealth to liberty^
Submit his actions to the public censure^
And stand the judgement of a Roman Senate;
Bid him do this^ and Cato is his friend*'

' TULLY.

' Pacem vtdif anna deponat, roget, depreceiur* Neminem
equiorem reperiet quam me' — Philipp. 6.

' AnniBOK.

— *— ' — ' — ^' But what is life ?

*Ti8 not to stalk about and draw fredh air

From time to time

'Tis to be free. WTien liberty is gone.
Life grows insipid and has lost its relish*'

iSTc. 3.

' TULLY.

' Non enirri in spiritu vita est : sed ea nulla fst omnino
servientu'—TmLiBT* 10*

160 tIFE OF AKENSIDE.

^ AOBISON.' ■

' Remember, O my friends^ the laws^ the rights.
The generous plan of power deliver'd down
From age to age by your renowned forefathers.
O never let it perish in your hands.'

Act III. Sc. 5.

' TDLLY*

-' Hanc (libertatem scilij retirete, queeso, Q^ir^ies,

guam vobis, tanquam hereditatem, mcLJores nostri reltquerunt,
Philipp. 4.

^ ADDISON.

' The mistress of the world, the seat of empire.
The nurse of heroes, the Delight of Gods.'

* TULLY.

* Roma domus virtutit, imperii dignitatis^ domicilium
glorias, lux orbis terrarum,' — Db Oratore.

" The first half of the 5 Sc, 3 Act, is nothing but
a transcript from the 9 book of Lucan between the
300 and the 700 line. You see by this specimen
the exactness of Mr. Addison's judgement who wanting
sentiments worthy the Roman consul sought for them
in Tully and Lucan. When he would give his subject
those terrible graces which Dion. Halicar. complains he
could find no where but in Homer, he takes the assist-
ance of our Shakespear, who in his Julius CoBsar has
painted the conspirators with a pomp and terrour^ that
perfectly astonishes. Hear our British Homer :

LIFE OF AKRNSIDE. 161

' Between the acting of a dreadful thing,
And the first motion, all the Int'rim is
Like a phantasmal or a hideous dream ;
The Grenius and the mortal Instruments
Are then in council, and the state of man.
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection.'

Mr. Addison has thus imitated it : —

^ i ) think what anxious moments pass between
The birth of plots, and their last fatal periods !
O 'tis a dreadful interval of time,
Fill'd up with horror all, and big with death !'

'^ I have two things to observe on this imitation : —
I. TheTdeconim this master of propriety has observed.
In the Conspiracy of Shakespear's description^ the for-
tunes of Caesar and the Roman Empire were concerned;
and the magnificent circumstances of

* The Genius and the mortal Instruments
Are then in council,'

is exactly proportioned to the dignity of the subject.
But this would have been too great an apparatus to the
desertion of Syphax and the rape of Sempronius, and
therefore Mr. Addison omits it. II. The other thing
more worth our notice is, that Mr. A. was so greatly
moved and affected with the pomp of Shakespear's de-
scription^ that instead of copying his Author* s sentiments,
he has before he was aware given us only the marks of
his own impressions on the reading him. For,

M

162 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

' O 'tifi a dreadful interral of time^
Fill'd up with horror all> and hig with death !'

are but the affections raised by such lively images as
these—

' all the Int'rim is

Like a pbantasma or a hideous dream ;'
and,

' the state of man>

Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection.'

"Again, when Mr. Addison would paint the softer
passions, he has recourse to Lee, who certainly had a
peculiar genius that way : thus, his Juba,

' True she is fair— O how divinely fair !'

coldly imitates Lee in his Alex. :

'' Then he would talk :— good gods, how he would talk !"

I pronounce the more boldly of this, because Mr. A.
in his 39 Spec, expresses his admiration of it. My
paper fails me, or I should now offer to Mr. Theobald
an objection against Shakespear's acquaintance with the
ancients. As it appears to me of great weight, and as it
is necessary he should be prepared to obviate all that
occur on that head. But some other opportunity will
present itselfe. You may now, s^, justly complain of
my ill manners in deferring till now, what should have
been first of all acknowledged due to you, which is my

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 163

thanks for all your favours when in town, particularly
for introducing me to the knowledge of those worthy
and ingenious gentlemen that made up our last night's
conversation. I am, sir, with all esteem your most
obliged friend and humble servant,

'' W. Warburton.
" Newarke, Jan, 2. 1726.

"For

Mr. M. Concanen at
Mr. Woodward's at the
half moon inffleetstreet

London."

It is unnecessary to enter much into the history
of this subject. Concanen, to whom Warburton
thus familiarly writes, was author of a multitude
of scurrilities in the London journals ; in which he
accused Pope of passing off Broome's verses, as
well as those of the Duke of Buckingham, for his
own* ; and, having thrown out some abuse against
Lord Bolingbroke, became acquainted with Sir
Wm. Yonge ; and having written for Sir Robert
Walpole, he was made Attorney-General of Ja-
maica.

Thus promoted, he married an opulent widow ;
returned to London in 1748, (whether upon his

* Warburton.

M 2

161< LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

own resignation, or from having been turned out
by Governor Trelawney is not decided) ; and died,
very rich, of a consumption in 1740. He is thus
stigmatized in the Dunciad^ —

*' True to the bottom, see Concanen creep,
A cold, long-winded native of the deep :
If perseyerance gain the diver's prize.
Not everlasting Blackmore this denies.
No noise, no stir, no motion canst thou make ;
Th' unconscions stream sleeps o'er thee like a lake."

The Ode to Mr. Edwards +, to illustrate which
the preceding very remarkable letter has been intro-
duced, was written in derision of Warburton'^s edi-
tion of Pope: and soon after its publication, the
two following curious letters appeared in the Public
Advertiser.

" To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.

" Sir,

'' Amidst that torrent of abuse, which is daily
pouring out on the most illustrious characters of the
age, the learned Bishop of G could not fail to come

* Book II. 299.

t Mr. Edwards spent the latter part of his life at Tarrick;
died when on a visit to his friend, Mr. Richardson, at Par-
son's Green, unmarried ; and was buried at Elleshorough in
Buckinghamshire. — J^ichoh.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 165

in for his share. To omit numberless other instances,
a thing, called * An Ode to J. Edwards, Esq.' (him of
the Dunciad), is just published, and retailed with much
industry, in the public prints. The writer, it seems,
is Dr. Akenside ; and the date, as we are told in the
title page, 1751.

" What provocation the Doctor then had for this in-
genious piece of revenge, every body understands ; but
what determined him to make it public at this time
may require to be explained. The secret, I suppose, is
no more than this : — The bishop has, just now, given a
new edition of the first volume of his Divine Legation ;
and has thought fit to reprint the Censure, he had
before made on a certain note of this poet — that very
Censure, which had occasioned the ingenious Ode of
1751. Hinc UloB lachrymcB. But what ! the reader will
say, this censure is of a critical and controversial kind: it
shows Dr. Akenside to be an ill-reasoner, and how is
this charge evaded by the Doctor's attempt to show the
Bishop to be an ill man } Certainly, not at all : but it
was something to blacken whom he could not refute.

''In the mean time, the triumphant superiority of
the Bishop's pen is very conspicuous. But who, that
could have answered the Writer^ would have had the
meanness to attack the Man ?

'^ But what, after all, is this attack ? Why, the
Bishop, it seems, thought favourably of a dunce, then
his acquaintance, and entertained some un^Etvourable
sentiments of a wit, afterwards his Mend. And what
is there in all this (admitting the fact to be as re-
lated), which can be thought to lessen the character of

166 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

the learned Prelate ? What great man has never made
an acquaintance with a little one ? Or^ what wise man.
has never been misled by Prejudice ? I am not in the
secret of the Bishop's History; but I could tell the
Doctor of many dull men^ whom this generous Prelate
has had the condescension to treat with more civility^
than they deserved ; and if he has had his prejudices
against some ingenious men^ I could tell him how
frankly^ upon better information, they have been given
up. The truth is, these petty cavils give no shock to a
great character, which ever sustains itself by its own
proper merits, and is sure to have justice done it, when
the offensive splendour of those merits is withdrawn.
For, as his great friend (to whom, and to dulness, the
Bishop has long since atoned for any injustice, he might
formerly have done to either), said divinely well,

^ Direct we feel their beam intensely beat ;
These suns of glory please not till they set'

" I am, Sir,

" Your humble servant,

" /. L.
''Mfly6, 1766."

'^ To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
Sir,

<€

" Observing in your paper of May 10 some
strictures upon an Ode to T. Edwards, Esq., ascribed
to Dr. Akenside, it brought to my mind another piece
of poetry, entitled The Pleasures of Imagination, pub-

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 167

lished about twenty years ago^ and ascribed to the same
author ; in which are the following lines :

' Others of graver mien, behold ; adom'd
With holy ensigns^ how sublime they move^
And^ bending oft their sanctimoQious eyes.
Take homage of the simple-minded throng,
Ambassadors of heaven/

This passage, it seems, gave offence to the learned writer,
who is supposed to be the subject of the little piece
of satire inscribed to Mr. Edwards, above-mentioned ;
and who, in a preface to some Remarks on several occO'
sional Reflections, published in 1744, calls these lines
' an insult on the whole body of the Christian clergy ;'
and comments upon them thus : —

*' ' And well do they (the clergy) deserve this moral
ridicule, supposing them to be drawn like : for, if I un-
derstand any thing of colouring, the features are pride,
hypocrisy, fraud, and imposture. I call it an insult on
the whole body of the clergy, because I know of no
part of them, who hold that the ministry of the Gospel
(or, as St. Paul calls it, of Reconciliation), was given
them by the religion of Christ, but hold likewise^
with the same apostle (who speaks of himself here as a
simple minister of the Gospel), that they are ambassa-
dors for Christ.*

'' Whether Dr. Akenside intended the description,
contained in these lines, for the whole body of the
Christian clergy, must be left to his own conscience ; for
I do not know, that he ever explained himself farther

168 LIFE OF AKENSIDC

upon the subject. If he included the whole body of the
clergy in the description^ it is, doubtless^ an insult upon
them all ; but^ in my opinion^ there is no occasion to un-
derstand the words in that extent. The lines contain
a description of a sort of personal demeanour, which^ Dr.
Akenside must have known^ is not common to all the
clergy. And it is obvious enough^ that it cost the
learned commentator some pains to accommodate the
poetry with his inteTpretation. But let us now attend
to another piece of poetry.

*' In the year 1743 (the year immediately preceding
the publication of this Reproof to Dr. Akenside) came
out a pompous edition of the Dunciad in 4to^ enriched
with some additional remarks as we are informed in an
advertisement, placed immediately after the title leaf^
and signed with the initials W. W. The world (with
what justice I pretend not to say) ascribed the addi^
tional Remarks to the same learned hand, who com-
mented, as above, upon the passage, cited from Dr.
Akenside's poem.

'^ In this edition of the Dunciad, we meet with the
following lines, at page 113.

' He ceas'd, and spread the robe -, the crowd confess
The reverend Flamen in his lengthen'd dress.
Around him wide a sable army stand,
A low-bom, cell-bred, selfish, servile band.
Prompt or to guard or stab, to saint or damn,
Heav'n's Swiss, who fight for any God or man.'

" On these we have the following additional remark :
' It is to be hoped, that the satire in these lines will be

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 169

understood in the confined sense, in which the author
meant it^ oisuch only of Ike clergy, who, though solemnly
engaged in the service of religion^ dedicate themselves to
servile and corrupt ends^ to that of ministers or factions :
and^ though educated under an entire ignorance of the
world, aspire to interfere in the government of it, and
consequently to disturb and disorder it,' &c.

'^ How the remarker could hope this, as there is no
more (if so much), in these lines, than in those of Dr.
Akenside, to limit to a certain, such of the clergy only,
I cannot perceive. He says, the author meant it so. If
he did, he expressed his meaning very awkwardly; for
the comment puts a restriction upon the text, which the
words can, by no artifice, be brought to admit of; as
the poet, beyond all shadow of a doubt, intended to
characterize the religious as well as the political achieve-
ments of these heavenly Swiss. In my opinion. Pope
has given his description more of the air of an universal
character, than the lines of Dr. Akenside exhibit ; and
if I may have leave to go the round about way, after
Dr. Akenside's commentator, I think I can prove it.
For example ; the Swiss of Heaven must be soldiers in
the pay of Heaven; and what clergyman, who professes
to be a soldier of Jesus Christ, in view of the prize of
his high calling, a crown of righteousness, but will ac-
knowledge himself one of Heaven's Swiss: whereas, if
I am rightly informed, the drudges of the ministry are
looked upon, even by the order itself, rather to be the
ambassadors of their superiors in office, than ambassa-
dors immediately deputed by commissions from Heaven;

170 LIFE OF AKENSIDE*

at leasts till they rise to stations^ in which the character
may be supported with suitable dignity.

*' I have not the pleasure to have the least personal
knowledge of Dr. Akenside ; but from his general
character must conclude, that he has no objection to
connexions of esteem and friendship with ingenious and
liberal-minded men among the English clergy, any more
than with scholars and gentlemen of other professions :
and as some of these would certainly not come under
the description given in those lines of his, above cited ;
it cannot be fairly supposed, he meant them for a satire
upon the whole order, whatever his own religious senti-
ments might be.

*^Mr. Pope had quite other reasons for being dis-
gusted with the English established clergy of his own
times. He was a Roman Catholic; they were Pro-
testants, whose principles and duty to the government
were inducements to them to exercise their .attention
and vigilance against the superstition and disloyalty of
the members of the church of Rome, to the political as
well as religious doctrines of which Mr. Pope betrays,
in some of his writings, a very strong attachment, not-
withstanding his affected neutrality on particular occa-
sions. It is, therefore, highly probable, that his little
piece of satire was intended to comprehend the whole
body of the English clergy; and this the rather, as,
when the verses were first penned, it is likely, he had
no experience, that there was so remarkable an excep-
tion to the general character, he had given of the clergy.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 171

as he afterwards found in the course of his friendship
with that steady^ pious^ simple-minded^ consistent^ hum-
ble, and peaceable divine, to whom he consigned the
sole privilege of commenting upon his works : for as to
his connexions with Atterbury and Swift, he must be
very sensible, with all his seeming friendship for them,
that there was nothing in their characters, that would
require to have the censure limited either with respect
to them, or some others of the same stamp, with whom
he might happen to have some accidental acquaintance.
^' I find, indeed, that it is a problem with some critics,
whom I have consulted on the present occasion, whether
if the connexion with Theobald, Concanen, Sec. had
lasted a little longer, and if, during that connexion, and
an estrangement from Mr. Pope, it had fallen within
the province of the Remarker on Dr. Akenside's poem,
to henoiify the Dunciad; it is, I say, a question of some
people, whether, in that case, Mr. Pope would not have
been chastised with as much severity as Dr. Akenside
was, the year following, for insulting the whole body of
the Christian Clergy.

'^ I am. Sir,

'^ Your humble servant,

'^ CONTRASTBB."

The opinions of Akenside were in strict accord-
ance with Whig principles. Hence arose the ad-
miration of Mr. HoLLis. That gentleman, however,
extended his partialities so much farther than Aken-
side, that he was actually, in principle, a Republican.

17^ LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

Hence, when he purchased a bed, in 1761, which
had once belonged to Milton, and in which that
great poet died, he presented it to " that modem
poet, whom he thought, not only in political senti-
ments but in poetical genius, most resembled him."
The bed was accompanied with the following note:

" An English gentleman is desirous of having
" the honour to present a bed, which once belonged
" to John Milton, and on which he died ; and if
Dr. Akenside, believing himself obliged, and
having slept on that bed, should prompt him to
write an ode to the memory of John Milton, and
the assertor of British liberty, that gentleman
" would think himself abundantly recompensed.'*'

Akenside is said to have received the present with
satisfaction ; but whether he wrote an ode, as re-
quested, does not appear. It is most probable,
that he did write one ; but that he could not please
himself in the execution.

Akenside was never a Republican; — he was an
ardent supporter of the principles, which seated
King William on the throne of this country. Mr.
Dyson's opinions were the same; but, on the ac-
cession of George the Third, and the elevation of
Lord Bute, he had relaxed the severity of his de-
clarations ; and having been admitted into the ad-

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 119

ministration, had sufficient influence to get his friend
appointed Physician to the Queen, who was, every
day, expected to land.

Soon after Akenside's return from Holland, he had
been admitted, by mandamtis^ to the same degree
at Cambridge, that he had taken at Leyden. When
that university sent up a congratulatory address
to the King and Queen, on their marriage, there-
fore, he accompanied the deputation : — ^but, having
no band, he wrote to Dr. Birch to lend him one.

" Dr. Akenside presents his compliments to Dr.
" Birch, and begs the favour, that he would lend
^^him a band, in order that he may attend the

Cambridge Address to-morrow.

<(

" Craven^street,
"Sept. 13, 1761/

As there are only a few letters (or notes) of
Akenside known to be in existence, except some to
Mr. Dyson, which will be mentioned in a subse-
quent page, perhaps I may be excused for intro-
ducing two of them in this place. Their subjects
are not very important; but having been written
by so eminent a person, — unimportant as they are
in other respects, they cannot be considered in any
other light than as interesting curiosities.

174 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

" DEAR SIE,

" I return you many thanks for the pleasure,
" which 1 have had in reading these books.

" I see, this instant, in the Public Advertiser,
" that Dr. Warburton is made King's Chaplain,
** and enters into waiting immediately. Can you
** tell me, whether this is true ? If there be any

hazard of finding him at Kensington, I shall not

choose to go thither to-day.

" I am your affectionate

" humble servant,

" M. AKENSIDE.
" Bloomsbury-square,
Saturday mom. Sept. 28.

" To the Rev. Dr. Birch,
" in Norfolk-street."

66

" Dr. Akenside presents his compliments to Dr.
" Birch, and returns him many thanks for his kind
" present. He has left an unpublished letter of
" Lord Bacon, which he thinks a valuable one, and
" which he had leave to communicate to Dr. Birch ;
"and desires that when he has done with it, he
" would be so good as to send it to Burlington-
" street.

" To the Rev. Dr. Birch.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 175

These notes are preserved in MSS. at the British
Museum.

The deputation from Cambridge was attended by
the chancellor and a considerable number of members
of the university, Drs. Reeve, Akenside, and many
other physicians. They were introduced to the
King and Queen by the Duke of Newcastle, Chan-
cellor of the University ; and to the Princess Dowager
by the Duke of Manchester, Lord Chamberlain.

Here we may pause a few moments, to notice
a poetical impropriety, on the part of Akenside,
not a little curious. He had been admitted^ as
before stated, to a doctor'^s degree at Cambridge ;
but a jealousy subsisting, at that time, between the
Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, Akenside,
in his Hymn to the Naiads, expressly mentions
Cambridge, when his subject required him to
mention Oxford: — since Oxford stands upon the
Thames ; and it is to " The blue-eyed Progeny of
Thames," that he addresses himself throughout the
whole of his poem.

tc

Tarry, n3miphs!

Ye nymphs ! ye blue-eyed Progeny of Thames !

Who now the mazes of this rugged heath

Trace with your fleeting steps ; who all night long

Repeat amid the cool and tranquil air

Your lonely murmurs, tarry, and receive

My ofFer'd lay."

176 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

The passage, to which I have referred, is this;
'* From noon to eve.

Along the river and the paved brook
Ascend the cheerful breezes, hail'd of bards,
Who, JIm^ by learned Cam, th' .^lolian lyre
Solicit; nor unwelcome to the youth,
Who on the heights of Tibur, all inclin'd.
Or rushing Anio, with a pious hand
The reverend scene delineates 3 broken fanes
Or tombs, or pillar'd aqueducts, the pomp
Of ancient time; and haply, while he scans
The ruins, with a silent tear revolves
The fame and fortune of imperious Rome."

In 1762, Mr. Dyson resigned his clerkship of
the House of Commons to Mr. Tyrwhitt*, and
having been elected Member of Parliament for the
borough of Haslemere, he became identified with
many of the measures of Lord Bute ; as he became
afterwards with . those of the Duke of Grafton and
Lord North.

* This gentleman is well known as the editor of Chaucer,
and a part he took in the controversy in r^ard to Rowley's
poems. But he has a higher praise, viz. that arising from his
having been the early patron of Dr. Burgess, the present ex-
cellent Bishop of Salisbury. *' Soon after I had published
Dawes's Miscellanea Critica" says Dr. Burgess (then Bishop
of St. David's, in a letter to Mr. Nichols t) ^^and was entering

t Dated Aberguilly Palace, March 27, 1815.

•

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 177

Mr. Justice Hardinge, who knew Mr. Dyson
well, says, in a letter to Mr. Nichols, that he never
saw any thing like the friendship of Mr, Dyson
and Dr. Akenside. It extended even to their sen-
timents; " and yet,'' says he, ** nothing could be
more dissimilar than they were. Mr. Dyson was
quite a man of business, of order, of parliamentary
forms, and of political argument. He had neither
fancy nor eloquence; and though he had strong
prejudices, he veiled them in obliging manners."

on the tenxi^ in which I was to take my master's d^ee, Mr.
Tyrwhitt asked me^ ' how I meant to dispose of myself, after
I had taken my degree ?' I told him it was my intention to
take a curacy in the country^ till I should be called again to
college to serve those offices, which are usually held by the
fellows in rotation.' He said, 'You must not leave col-
lege. In the country, and with your new duties, you would
not have the means and opportunities of pursuing your old
i^tudies, which the university possesses above all other places.
You shall be my curate. I will beg you to accept, annually,
from me what will be equivalent to a curate's stipend.' —
I accepted his generous offer," continues the bishop, *^ and
remained at college. I was soon after appointed to the office
of college tutor. But Mr. Tyrwhitt continued his annual
present till the emolument of my office enabled me to relin-
quish a gratuity, which I knew he would bestow on some
protege, who wanted it more than myself. The literary ad-
vantages, which I derived from my continuing at college, at
that time, and, of course, my obligations to my generous
friend, are greater than I can express."

N

178 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

Sir John Hawkins relates, in his Life of Dr.
Johnson, that a person, named Saxby, who held a
situation in the custom-bouse, and who was of that
despicable order, who have the privilege of saying
just what they please, was in the constant habit of
venting his sarcasms against the medical profession.
One evening, says Sir John, this man, after having
laboured some time to prove^ that the profession
of physic was all imposture, turned suddenly upon
Akenside^— " Doctor,'' said he, " after all you have
said, my opinion of the profession is this : — the an-
cients endeavoured to make it a science and failed;
and the modems to make it a trade, and succeeded.''
The company laughed, and Akenside joined in it
with good humour.

Sir John relates, also, another anecdote, relative
to a low-minded man, named Ballow. This person
was a lawyer of great learning, but of no practice ;
full of spleen; of vulgar manners; and having some
connexion with the government, he thought, as
many persons, standing in the same relative situa-
tion, would have the ignorance to believe, that he
was entitled to hate Akenside, for those liberal sen-
timents, which he seldom thought it necessary either
to qualify or to disguise. A dispute, one evening,
was the consequence; and Ballow having made use

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 179

of some expressioni^, little conforming with the
manners of a gentleman, Akenside degraded him-
self so far as to demand an apology. On this occa-
sion Akenside seems to have been insensible to the
beauty, and even sublimity, of that sentiment which
teaches, that—

" Affronts are innocent, when men are worthless."

Ballow was courageous enough to insult, but not
sufficiently so to pay the penalty. He, therefore,
screened himself from punishment by keeping out
of the way. Akenside's anger soon subsided; and
then some mutual friends adjusted the difference.
Sir John seems disposed to cast an air of ridicule
over Akenside's conduct in this matter; but to
challenge a man, like Ballow, must have been in
itself a punishment to the sensitive mind of Aken-
side, in itself sufficient, for having given way to a
weakness so unworthy a poet of high rank, and
more especially a philosopher of no mean order.

Few men ever lived, who had a greater inward
detestation of tyranny and bigotry, than Akenside.
This feeling is indicated in all his poems ; and he
had an equal contempt for hypocrisy. Consider-
ing, with Shaftesbury*, that the Deity was the

* Characteristics, ii. 294k.

n2

180 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

sovereign source of all beauty, he was always in-
dignant, when the name of that most wonderful
Being was alluded to in a gross, vulgar, or indif-
ferent manner. "People would assert,'' he was
accustomed to say, " that I imitated Newton, or I
should never allude to the Deity, or hear him alluded
to by others, but I should make an inclination of
my body.'' And one day, being in company with
Mr. Meyrick's father at a coffee-house, in the
neighbourhood of Charing-cross, having listened,
for some time, with impatience to the oratory of a
Mr. Wamefield, who was making some severe re-
marks not only on Warburton*s Divine Legation of
Moses, but on the Bible itself, he, at length, in-
terrupted him. " I tell you what, sir," said he ;
" Warburton is no friend of mine; — but I detest
hearing a man of learning abused. As to the Bible
—believe or not, just as you please ; but let it con-
tain as many absurdities, untruths, and unsound
doctrines, as you say it does, there is one passage,
at least, that I am sure, you, with all your ingenuity,
and with all the eloquence you possess, have not the
power to surpass. , It is where the prophet says,
* The children of men are much wiser than the
children of light.' "

And here I take pleasure in citing a passage sent

. LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 181

to me by an octogenarian of great learning, who
assures me, that he has every reason to think,
that it formed part of a letter from Akenside
to Dr. Grainger, author of the Sugar Cane *.
" Your friend seems to doubt whether he has a
soul or not ; and yet surely he will not attempt to.
place himself on a level with Kepler ; and so far
was he from doubting, that he had a soul, he gives
one even to the earth itself "f".*" ** In respect to its
nature,^^ said he, on another occasion, '^ it is past
my judgment, whether material or immaterial.
Perhaps it may partake of both natures. Tertul-
lian not only makes the soul material ;[, but he gives

• ** Grainger," says Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore, ** was
not only a man of learning, but of excellent virtue ; one of
the most friendly, generous, and benevolent men I ever
knew." Grainger's Georgic is now chiefly known by the
tale of Junio and Theana. There are, however, some fine
passages in it; and many beautiful descriptions of tropical
vegetation.

' f Probably^ Akenside alluded to the following passage :—
" Denique terrce glottis tale corpus erit, quale est alicujus
animalis : quidque animali est sua anima, hoc erit telluri
hcBC, quam qucerimus, natura sublunaris,"

X '^ Nos autem animam corporalem, et hie profitemur, et
in suo volumine probamus habentem proprium genus sub-
stantia, et soliditatis, per quam quid, et sentire, et pad
possit." — '^ Quis negavit Deum esse corpus."

182 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

a corporal body even to God himself; and Job says,
* In my flesh I shall see God.' The Christian doc-
trine^ also, implies it ; since it speaks of the resur-
rection of the body. Certainly, every thing that
exists must have shape ; and if shape, form ; and if
form, substance. But there may be many sub-
stances, and no doubt there are, beyond what we
know of at present. Simplicius says, there is in
nature an active principle and a passive one : the
soul may partake of the same differences; the former
principle, associating with light; the latter with
colour. Maximus Tyrius makes even a bolder a^
sertion ; for, he says, that God's oracles and men's
understandings are of near alliance. Hence the
assertion of Proclus, that all our souls are the chil*
dren of God. But the fact is, we know little of
these things. It is a great satisfaction, however,
that we live in a world, presenting, every moment,
something to exercise our faculties; and that the
grand mover of the whole will, no doubt, make
ample allowances for human infirmity.*"

Akenside, however, seldom conversed on subjects
of this kind. They are very dangerous for medical
men to touch upon. The religious creed of Akenside,
if we may j udge by his poem, seems to have associated

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 183

with that of Lord Shaftesbury*,— pure theism : but
that he had a high respect for the Christian Reve-
lation, and a profound reverence for the Christiaa
doctrine, is very evident from his ode to the Bishop
of Winchester, and that to the author of the Me.
moirs of the House of Brandenburg. There is,
perhaps, a still more striking proof of his respect for
Christianity. For, when a boy, I remember hear-
ing Sir Grey Cooper, Bart,, read a paraphrase of the
Benedicite, which, he told my father, was written
by Akenside. " I know it has been attributed to
other persons,*" said Sir Grey, " but I have very
good reasons for believing, that it was written by
Akenside ; and I am proud of it ; for Akenside was
a townsman of mine ; and I remember hearing, that
he was, also, author of one of the Christmas Carols f

* See Characteristics, ii. U, 71, 72, 73, 74, 267, 268, 358.
—Ed. 1737.

f Mr. Brand alludes to Carols of this kind in his observa-
tions on Popular Antiquities. (See Ellis's edition, vol. i;
350, 4to.) ^' J. Boeraus Aubanus tells us, that in Franconia,
on the three Thursday nights of our Lord, it is customary
for the youth of both sexes to go from house to house,
knocking at the doors, singing their Christmas Carols^ and
wishing a happy new year. They get, in return, at tho
houses, they stop at, pears, apples, nuts, and even money.

'' Little troops of boys and girls still go about, in this very
manner, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and other places in the

1st LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

which used to be sung about the streets of New-
castle many years ago." This paraphrase we do not
Tenture, however, to insert ; since, had it really been
written by Akenside, it would, assuredly, have been
inserted in Mr. Dyson's edition of 177^. It is too
beautiful to have been omitted.

SiE Grey Cooper was bom at Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, and was bred to the profession of a barrister;
and a speech still remains upon record, delivered by
him at the bar of the House of Commons, which
may perhaps be cited as one of the best, ever de-
livered on a mere local subject*. He wrote a
pamphlet, entitled " A Pair of Spectacles Jbr Short-
sighted Politicians^'^ which had the good fortune to
recommend him to the ministry of the day ; and he
became, subsequently. Member of Parliament for
the borough of San<lwich, and Secretary to the

north of England^ some few nights before^ on the night of
the eve of Christmas-day, and on that of the day itself.
The Hagmena (as it is <»lled) is still preserved among them,
and they always conclude their begging song with wishing
a merry Christmas, and a happy new year."

* ^' State ot* the proceedings in the House of Commons on
the petition of the Duke and Duchess of Atholl> against
the Bill^ * for the more effectually preventing the mischiefs
arising to the revenue and commerce of Great Britain and
Ireland, from the illicit and clandestine trade to and fram
the Isle of Man.'"

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 185

Treasury, during the whole administration of Lord
North. His use to that minister, on particular oc-
casions, is thus illustrated in the correspondence of
Sir John Sinclair *•

'^ Lord North was often lulled into a profound sleep
by the omniferous oratory of some of the parliamentary
speakers. Sir Grey Cooper (one of the Secretaries
of the Treasury)^ meanwhile took notes of the principal
arguments of his opponents, which^ by glancing his eye
over the paper^ Lord North was enabled immediately to
answer. On a naval question^ a member thoiight proper
to give an historical detail of the origin and progress of
ship-buildings which he deduced from Noah's Ark^ and
in regular order brought down to the Spanish Armada.
Sir Grey^ inadvertently^ awoke his lordship at this
period; who asked^ to what era the honourable gentle-
man had arrived ? Being told^ ' to the reign of Queen
Elizabeth^' he instantly replied, * Dear Sir Grey, why
did you not let me sleep a century or two more ?' "

On the resignation of Lord North, Sir Gre^
retired into private life. Having spent all the earlier
part of my life in the village and neighbourhood to
which he retired, I had many opportunities of seeing
and conversing with him. He had a small temple
or summer-house, in a remote part of the village,
called the Hall-Gbove. This summer-house was

* Vol. i. p. 76.

186 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

generally kept unlocked, and every one might go
into it that pleased. I frequently availed myself
of this liberty ; and one day found a copy of Aken-
side, which had been left on the table by one of
Sir Grey's family ; and seating myself on a small
parapet, overhung with jessamine, honey-suckles,
and clematis, opened the book, and imbibed, for the
fiist time, that ardent admiration of the works of
this poet, which has continued through life^ and
led at last to the presumption of endeavouring to
illustrate his life, writings, and genius*.

Sir Grey was rather haughty, when displeased ;
but the most condescending of men, when in good
humour. He had great dignity in his deportment ;
was of a kind and humane disposition ; and one
of the best and most indulgent of parents. One
day my father charged me with the deliverance of
a letter, when Sir Grey took me into his private
apartment, and presented me with a copy of two
poems, he had printed for the use of his friends.
One of these I presume to insert, — either out of
gratitude or resentment, — for having first awakened

* Bowles. '^ The influence of the imagination, on the
conduct of life, is one of the most important points in moral
philosophy. It were easy, hy an induction of facts, to prove,
that the imagination directs almost all the passions, and
mixes with almost every circumstance of action or pleasure."
— Akenside.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 187

in me an ambition to be remembered a few short
days beyond the hour of death.

*' TO THE NYMPH OF THE FOUNTAIN OF TEARS.

t(

Hail^ pious nymph ! whose guardian power
The holy spring of Tears protects^

And each soft drop and tender shower
From tl^ mysterious source directs:

^' Not tears^ that^ on th' approach of death,
Down the pale cheek of tyrants roll.
When Conscience, to the latest breath.
Holds up the mirror to the soul :

'^ Nor such as moisten the dark cells

Where, midst the slaves the rack prepare.
The stem inquisitor compels
E'en godlike virtue to despair.

^' These bitter waters of distress

Arise from other springs than thine;
Springs, which infernal gnomes possess,
Dread ministers of wrath divine !

€C

t<

Heaven gives to\hee the sacred part
Of watching the pure streams, that flow

From the soft motions of the heart.
That learns to feel another's woe :

To raise the head by care depress'd.

With gentle, delicate, relief;
To pour into the wounded breast

The balm of sympathetic grief.-

188 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

'^Sach soothing offices engage

Thy sylphs, the messengers of gnce^
Sent by thy order to assuage
The sorrows of the human race.

'^ To thee belong the gashing riUs
Of sadden joy and glad surprise^
The rapt soul's transport, that distils
Glistening in th' expressive eyes.

*^ Let me, thy suppliant^ take my part
In all thy pleasures, all thy pains ;
And ne'er, though exquisite the smart,
Of sensibility complain :

** Oft let me leave the busy scene.
Devotion at thy shrine to pay ;
Oft taste with thee the calm serene
Evening of a well-spent day ;

*' And, in thy grotto's hallow'd shade.
Gaze at the children of the world.
In vanity's light barks convey'd.
With every glittering sail unfurl'd:

** Smile at the obeat, for what they choose
In each fond wish and fickle mood;
And pity them for what they lose —
The power divine of doing good.

€<

View the mild glory round the throne.

Love with obedience command;
For other's rights maintain its own^
And rule to bless a grateful land.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 189

" To cheer me in the vale of tesm.

Stilly pensive nymph ! thy grace impart.
Still let thy spring of tender tears
Enlarge and purify my heart;

** For with those social feelings glow
The hest affections of the mind;
The warmth of friendship, and the glow
Of charity to all mankind*."

* The following letters, which have lately appeared in
the Garrick correspondence, are important in more lights
than one : —

** Tuesday morning,

" MT DEAR OARBICK,

*' I GIVE you my most cordial thanks for the de-
light I received last night ; and Lord North commands me
to express his obligation to you in the strongest manner. I
cannot go in comfort to my wife and children at Windsor,
till I am assured, that you have not suffered for this ioimi-
taUe exertion of yoi^ powers. I never remember to have
seen or heard you greater, tarn in conciiatis quant in remissis
qjffectilnu, which Quintilian says of Cicero in one of his
finest orations. I beg my compliments to Mrs. Garrick. I
saw her stooping from her doud and gazing at you. I
thought the spirit of Shakspeare was, probably, doing the
same, and with equal applause. By the by, why should not
those fine lines, in the Essay on Man, be applied to your
demi-god, as well as Newton ?

^ Superior beings, when of late they saw
A mortal man unfold all nature's law,' &c.

" I am, my dear sir, very affectionately yours,

*' Gret Cooper."

190 LIFE OF AKENSIDfi.

Among the friends of Akenside may be, also,
mentioned Mr. We ay ; to whom Mr. Edwards ad-

'^ Parliament Street, March 14, 1771.

*' MY DEAR SIB,

'^ I WILL not fail to use my best endeavours to
obtain what you request, and I am well assured, that Lord
North will receive the application with a favourable im-
pression, as it comes from you. At the same time I must
acquaint you, that the same indulgence, which Mr. R. Burke
desires, was, last year, refused to Mr. Haliday, the collector of
Antigua, on the ground of his having been only one year at-
tending his duty, since his former leave of absence expired.
This is the very case of Mr. Richard Burke; but as my
heart always inclines me to go beyond the severe rules of my
fluty, in soliciting the petitions of the lowest officers of the
crown, when they apply for leave of absence on account of
their health, or the urgency of their private affairs, even
when the facts do not come so well vouched, as they ought
to be by the rules of office, I cannot refuse my assistance to
the recommendations of a friend, whoip upon much greater
occasions I should be happy to oblige. Lord North is the
best'tiatured man in the world, and I know, he will as readily
do a favour, or grant a reasonable indulgence, to the brother
of Mr. £. Burke, as to any of those who stand in the rank
of his political friends. Nothing but public consideration,
and the tendency of the example, can prevent him from
granting what is requested.

^' I am, my dear sir, with the truest regard, your very
faithful servant,

" Gret Cooper."
Endorsed,

" Sir Qrey Cooper, March 17, 1771.

" Bichard Burke,"

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 191

dressed a sonnet, peculiarly characteristic of their
different fortunes in life.

ec

Treasury Chambers.
''March 18,1771.

'' DEAB SIR,

(f

I HAVE the pleasure (because I know it will
give you pleasure) to acquaint you, that I have obtained
Lord North's permission to order a warrant for granting
leave of absence to Mr. Richard Burke for one year.

" By some expressions in your last letter, you seem to
misunderstand what I wrote to you. I never conceived,
that any gentleman should he refused an ordinary and rea-
sonable indulgence on account of his political conduct; much
less that of his relations. The warrant will, I hope, be
signed to-morrow.

*' I am, my dear sir, yours ever most faithfully,

" Gbey Cooper."

** Parliament Street, Nov. 8, 1771.

" MY DEAB SIB,

" I HAVE received your letter this morning, and
sent it to Ladt Noeth. She and my lord must be much
pleased with the polite offer you make them of your charming
viUa; though I should suppose, that my lord's business
(which grows upon him every hour we get nearer to parliiM-
roent) will not suffer him to avail himself of it. I attended
her ladyship and my wife last night to the play. How I
was mortified that I did not see you, and how grieved for
the cause of your absence ! I beg to know particularly how
you do : I would have waited upon you, if I had not been
still very lame, of a sprained ande. Mr. R. Burke has
called on me, and I have returned his visit. Junius writes
again to-day both in the shape of a letter and a card.

192 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

- '' Wbjly, whose dear friendship in the dawning years
Of undesigning childhood first hegan.
Though youth's gay morn with even tenour ran.
My noon conducted, and my evening cheers.

" With regard to the subject of your former letter, my
constant conduct and language have been, that though, in read-'
ing the letters, I was often led to conjecture and to believe,
that they were written by thai person *, I as often felt myself
restrained and controlled from entertaining such suspicions,
by the solemn declarations, and the parole of the honour of a
gentleman, which I had heard from you he had given, and
which every oENTLEMAir holds more sacred than his

LIFE.

'* I am, my dear sir, yours most truly,

" Grey Cooper/

»f

MR. GARRIOK TO SIR 6RET COOPER.

" Adelphi, Feb. I, U74^

" MY DEAR SIR,

'' It is not possible for me to believe, what my
servant tells me, nay I should scarce have believed my own
eyes, had I seen it. He tells me, that you in company with
a certain lord, whom I most honour and would soonest obey,
called yesterday at the Adelphi ! Impossible ! I beg and
beseech you, my good friend, not to make me too vain ; but
if there are any commands to either of the Indies ; if it is

* Mr. Edward Burke. Since Sir Grey entertained this
opinion, it is most probable, that Lord North did the same ;
and there are few things more remarkable in the history of
that mystery.

LIFE OP AKENSIDlfi. 193

Rightly dost thou^ in whom combined appeurs.
Whatever for public life Qompletes the nian> :

With native zeal strike out a larger plan^

No useless friends of senators and peers ;
Me talents moderate^ and smaU estate^
Fit for retirement's unambitious shade.

Nor envy I> who ne'er approach the throne,
But joyful see thee mingle with the greats

And praise my lot^ contented with my own *."

thought proper that I should be commander-in-chief; or if
I should be fixed to make the Bostonians drink tea^ as they
ought^ or send them after the tea into the Atlantic^ — pray
let me know directly^ that I may resign the kingdoms of
England and Scotland^ in the persons of Richard the Third
and Macbethj and prepare to go any where^ as that noble
lord should be pleased to command me.

" I am your most obliged and obedient^

" D. Garbick."

Reply,

■ " MY DEAR SIB,

" The wit and pleasantry of your letter have
delighted us all. Lord North cannot afford, either on the
account of his taste or his popularity, to send the favourite
of the nation to such barbarous places as Bengal or Boston.
He hopes, however, that you will soon prove, that you have
neither abdicated nor deserted the kingdoms of Scotland or
England.

'' Ever yours most faithfully,

" Grey Cooper;"

* The character of Mr. Wray is thus sketched by Mr.
Justice Hardinge.

o

194 tIFB OF AKENSIDE.

Akeoflide having completed, in 1766, the second
book of his new poem on the Imagination, took

^' It may appear^ at the first glance of it^ a paradox, but,
I betieve, it will be found correct, when it is analysed,
and compared with experience, to say, that nothing is more
difficult than to gire the portrait of a singular man; — I
mean the features and the countenance of his mind. I shall,
Uierefore, only attempt a faint impression of a deportmeni
and of a manner , the most original, that I ever knew.

'^ Mr. Wray had a yiyadty, and laughing air, half ludi-
crous, yet exciting no ridicule, and bordering upon levity,
but never too near it — more juvenile at least than his age;
but in this comic humour he was never coarse, or ill«bred;
was never too free, and never ill-natured. He was blesied
with a power to make instruction jdeasant, which no coloors
can reach.

** I have known men of distinguished parts, and wit, who
seem to have got by heart a whole string of epigrams in
prose, and bon mots, to be let off in the course of the day.
Shakspeare, who was at home in every human character, and
walked in every path of it, says of those men, as r^resented
by one of his dramatic figures^

' This fellow picks up wit, as pigeons pease.
And utters it again, as Jove doth please.'

'^ Horace describes the jester of his day :

*facetos

Qui capiat risus hominum, famamque dicacis.'

'^ Mr. Wray had no such ambition ; he was above it: all
his whims of thought, fancy, or expression, were not only
his own, but were prompted by the casual impulse of the

LIFE OF AKEMSIDE. 195

occasion, the following year, to read it to Lord and
Lady Dacre, at their seat, called Mount Ararat.
This circumstance is related by Mr, Wray in a
letter to one of his friends *. ^' I was at Mount
Ararat to attend Lord and Lady Dacre^ accom-
panied by AJcenstde, who passed the evening there,
and communicated the second and part of a third
book in his great work. In the former, and in the

* Sept. 83< 1766.

moment He bad a right even to be as dull^ as he was
brilliant^ from his perfect indi^rence to the effbct of all,
that he said, except that he was happy in communicating
pleasure to those around him.

^ In general society he had no imperious air of the pedant,
or fopperies of taste. He had no oracles to deliver ; no littie
senate for his laws; but ^ spared his oton strength^,' in
wisdom or in wit. He had a light and familiar note, that
made its party good with boys and girls. He rather said in
a lively and comic style what carried the weight of a power-
ful intellect, than what are foolishly called ^good things'

'* I can remember a thousand bons mots of those toits pro^

Jessed, Chesterfield, Horace Walpolb, and Selwyn.

Of Wray, I recollect none : and it is not because they did

not exist; it is because they were melted into something

better and superior.** — Nichols' Illustrations.

t Parcentibus viribus. — Hor.

o2

196 UFK OP AKBNSIDKf

iune philosophical way, he is eloquent oa the topics
pf truth and virtue, vice and the passions. In the
latter, Solon is introduced ^ving a fable on ^
criffin ofeM. It is introduced by an episode from
Herodotus of ArgavisUta Marriage, the daughter
tfClinihenes^ which is delightfully poetical."

In 1768 Akenside published three essays in the
Medical Transactions. 1. On Cancers ; 2. On the
Use of Ipecacuanha in Asthmas ; 3. On the best
Method of treating White Swellings of the Joints.

1. In the first he gives an instance of a cancer in
utero, which was cured by the cicuta and the bark ;
one, in which a cancer in the tongue was cured by
the cicuta, corrosive sublimate, and the bark ; and
a third, in which a cancered lip was cured in the
same manner; with this difference, that the cicuta,
having removed the pains, which was all that could
be expected from it, was laid aside at the end of ten
jdays.

2. In respect to asthmas, Akenside directs, that
where the indisposition is chronical and habitual,
from three to five grains of ipecacuanha every
morning. " The effects,'' says the author, *'do not
depend on exercise, or the action of vomiting ; but
upon the antispasmodic virtues of ipecacoan."

3. In regard to white swellings of the joints.

ttFE OF AKENSlDXT. l97

Akeiiside recommends the applicatibn of a blister
found the part affected; which he directs to be kept
open, and reduced to such a size, as the nature of
the complaint may seem to require: but nothing,
he adds, is to be expected from this treatment^
when there is any sensible collection of fluid within
the joint.

Having been appointed Krohnian Lecturer,
Akenaide chose for his subject the History of the
Revival of Learning; and he read three lectures on
that comprehensive theme before the College of
Physicians. But some of the members having
justly remarked, that the subject was foreign to the
purposes of that institution, he declined proceeding
farther.

About the same period he read an account of
some observations, he had made at St. Thomases
Hospital, on the putrid erysipelas. ' These observa-
tions he intended for the second volume of the
Medical Transactions ; but death prevented theii^
publication *,

* It has been generally believed that there are several
MSS. of Akenside at the Collie of Physicians^ or at the
Cofl^e of Surgeons. This, however^ is not the fact; as
may be seen by the following letters :>-^

198 LIFE OF AKENSIDB.

I shall now say something of my old and respected
friend, Mr. Mejrrick. He lived in Swallow-street
many years, and died at Hammersmith in 1807.
When I was first introduced to him, which was in
the early part of that year, he shook me so cordially
by the hand, at parting, that it ached for many
minutes afterwards. He was, nevertheless, far fhxn

tt

Royal College of Surgeons, Oct. U, 1831.

« 8I&

'*

'' In reply to your letter of yesterday I have to acquaint
you that I do not find^ among the papers^ preserved at this
College^ any MSS. or memoranda whatever^ relating to Dr.
Akenaide.

'' I am. Sir,
'' Your most obedient humble senranty

^* Edmund Bblfoub.*

«

CoOege of Physicians, Oct. 2d, 1831.

" 8XB,

'^ I am requested by Si& Henry Halfobd, President of
ihe Royal College of Phyacians, to inform you that thero
are no MSS. or other papers relating to Dr. Akenside, to be
found in the College Library j and to assure you, that had
there been any such, every facility of access to them would
have been readily affbrded to you.

'' I have the honour to be. Sir,

*' Your obedient servant,

** Francis Hawkins, M. D.
'^ To Charles Bucks, Esq."

lilFE OF AKENSIDB. 199

beiDg rough or nide in his manners. He was, on
the contrary, good-nature itself. He had a great
dislike to be thought to have more information,
than he really had, and was strongly averse to any
thing like authorship. ^^ I have known many
authors,'' he would say, *^ but I never saw any
thing in their fortunes or phyaognomies to envy.*"
" I '11 tell you a witty saying of mine,'' said he, one
day. ^^ Glover came once into my shop ; and
putting a prescription into my hand, desired me to
make it up for him. < I think I am coming to a
sad p(i88y said he ; * my health declines daily .^
^ No,' siud I ; < no, sir, you are not yet come to a
sad pms; for if you were, you could not have made
Leonidas fight so gallantly at the pa^s of Thermo-
pylcd^ Glover," continued he, " was one of the
best men I ever knew. Some people want us to
believe, that he wrote Junius's letters. Why, he
was a friend of Mr. Dyson ; could he, therefore,
write of Mr. Dyson as Junius did P Besides, the
Duke of Bedford had done him several small pieces
of service. It is a libel upon human nature to
suppose such a thing."

Junius, indeed, wrote very irreverendly of Mr.
Dyson. Soon after his resignation of the clerkship
of the House of Commons, Mr. Dyson was appointed

900 LIFE OF AKEN3IDE*

Secretary to the Treasury. In 1768 he was ap-
pointed on0 of the Lords of the Treasury, under
the Duke of Grafton, in conjunction with Lord North
(Chancellor of the Exchequer), Mr. Onslow, the
once celebrated Charles Jenkinson, and Mr. Charles
Townsend . He does not appear to have been a very
eloquent debater, nor indeed a frequent speaker:
but his opinions were always characterised by plain,'
practical, common dense; and as his name must
always command great respect, and even reverence,
for the magnificence of his conduct to Akenside, the
insertion of one of his speeches, by way of specimen,,
cannot fail to be interesting.

- •* Jan, 9, 1770.— We have been told, sir, in a laboured
harangue (from Mr. Serjeant Glynn), that we have lost
the love and confidence of the people ; that an honour-
able gentleman, who has reproached us with betraying
our trust, has spoken the sentiments of the people ; that
we are, at this moment, in danger of being called to an
account by the people ; that the people are ready to do
themselves justice upon us; and that we should be
aware what we do, because the people, whom, by one .
of those rhetorical flourishes, which are so useful, on
other occasions, he calls the avenger, is at the door. Sir,
it is hard to say. whether this insult is more gross
against this house, or the people. Is the rabble, tliat
is now supposed to be gathered about the door, the

LIFE OF AKBNSIDE. 201

jieople? Are the writers of the newspapers^ who wish
£»r. a prison or the pillory^ that their libels may be
thought more important^ the people ? The people ard
too greats too respectable a body^ to became the tool^ the.
puppet of any faction. They are not to be hired to^
halloo and hiss with porter and geneva ; they are not
to be brought gaping to an inn^ by such tricks and de-«
tices, as gull clowns at a fair. An honourable gentle-
man has told us^ that he did not seek petitioners ; but
that petitioners sought him : — but it is well known^ that
though this may be true in appearance^ it is £dse in
fact. When a great man has a mind to be thus sought;
intimations are given to proper persons^ that they must
seek him ; a few stanch friends meet together^ with an
invitation to the great man, drawn up by himself, in
their pocket. When this is formally sent to him, he
graciously vouchsafes to attend. A general meeting is
then proposed ; advertisements are inserted in the news*
papers; cards of invitation are every where distributed;
and agents attend on market days at inns and alehouses,
to see, who can be picked up by the influence of a cus-
tomer, or the hopes of a treat. The great man receives-
another copy of the invitation to himself; and he again
deigns to accept it. When he comes, he is pressed to
take the chair, as has been preconcerted, and thus he is
happily sought and found. From the chair he relates
what he has heard from the minority of this bouse, of
wicked ministers and injured liberty; taking care to
suppress the arguments^ by which the majority support
the wisdom of parliament and the rectitude of adminis«

20S ];.IFE OF AKENSIDE.

tradon ; and then^ produdng a petitiim, hands are ool-
lectedy like money at the church-door for a brief; and
when this rhapsody of malice and sedition, in which ma-
jesty and ministry are involved in one general charge
of combining against the constitution, is brought up to
insult the king and disgrace government, we are told it
is the sense of the people ! We have been superdliously
warned of tyranny, and told^ that it is advaneing against
us in hasty strides. I am an enemy to tyranny, sir ;
and, therefore, I cannot without indignation hear this
house threatened with the most preposterous and horrid
of all tyranny, that of a mob. To insinuate, that the
Pleasures of a legislative body should be influenced by
echoes of sedition from the rabble, is to insinuate, that all
government should be at an end. It Is to restrain those^
with whose vengeance we are now threatened, that all
government is instituted ; and if they are not restrained,
a state of nature will return, and the earth will be
filled with violence and oppression, under the pretence
of liberty and justice. If our liberties are in danger,
it is from those, who have set up the cry ; it is from
those, who insult both majesty and administration ; and
not from those who would support the best of princes,
in the exercise of constitutional rites, and the measures
to which he gives the sanction of his authority.*'

Jan. 26, 1769. — Mr. Dyson spoke in favour of
Lord North's measures, in regard to America.
March 15, 1T70.— He spoke on the subject of

LIFE 0£ AKENSIDE. SOS

the Remonstrance of the dty of London to the
king.

March S8 (same year). — He spoke against Mr.
Grenyille^s bill for regulating the trials of contested
elections.

Feb* ST) 1771.—- He spoke against a bill, intro*
duced to repeal a clause in the act for quieting the
possession of the subject, called the nullum tempest
act*

ApnL 25f 1T71. — He spoke on the Shoreham
bill: and on March 2, 1773, he delivered his sen-
timents in favour of the bill, introduced by Sir
Henry Hoghton, for the further relief of his ma-
jesty^s protestant subjects, dissenting from the
church of England.

These are all the instances, recorded, in which
Mr. Dyson took any prominent part in the debates
of the house ; but as debates were not published in
those times, in the manner they are at present ; it
is impossible now to ascertain how frequently he
otherwise spoke, on what subjects, and to what
purport.

In February, 1770, we find him resigning his
situation of a Lord of the Admiralty in favour of
Mr. Fox, upon a pension being granted him on the
Irish establishment, for his own life and those of his

S04 LIPE 01^ A1C£NSID£.

three sions. This pension, however, he did not eil^
joy quite two years. It was taken up in the Irish
house of parliament, upon the ground of its being
an unnecessary charge upon that country ; and on
a division Mr. Dyson lost his pension by a ma-^
jority ofone*. On this occasion Mr. Flood made
one of those furious attacks, for which he was so
greatly remarkable. " Of all the burthens which
it has pleased government to lay upon our devoted
nhoulders,^ said Mr. Flood, " that, which is the
subject of the present debate, is the most grievous
and intolerable. Who does not know Jeremiah
Dyson, Esq.? We know little of him indeed^
otherwise than by his name in our pension list ; but
there are others, who know him by his actions.
This is he, who is endued with those happy talents,
that he has served every administration, and served
every one with equal success, — a civil, pliable, good--
natured gentleman, who will do what you will, and
say what you please, for payment.""

Mr. Flood was here interrupted. " The honour-^
able gentleman,*' said a member, " ought to pay
more respect to Mr. Dyson, as one of his majesty'^s
officers, and, as such, on whom his majesty was
graciously pleased to repose confidence in.^

• Nov. 25, 1771.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. ^5

. "As to the royal confidence,'' answered Mr.
^Flood, "reposed in Mr. Dyson, his gracious ma^
jesty (whom God long preserve) has been graciously
lavish of it, not only to Mr. Dyson, but to the
friends of Mr. Dyson ; and I think the choice was
good: the royal secrets will, I dare say, be very
secure in their breasts, not only for the love tliey
bear to his gracious majesty, but for the love they
bear themselves. In the present case, however, we
Ao not want to be informed of that part of Mr.
Dyson's character — we know enough of him,—
every body knows enough of him. Ask the British
treasury — the British council — ask any English-
man who. he is, what he is, — they can all tell you,
for the gentleman is well known. But what have
we to do with him? He never served Ireland, nor
the friends of Ireland. And if this distressed king-
dom was never benefited by his counsel, interest,
or service, I see no reason why this kingdom should
reward him ! Let the honourable members of this
house consider this, and give their voices accord-
ingly. For God's sake, let every man consult his
.conscience: — If Jeremiah Dyson, Esq. shall be
found to deserve this pension, let it be continued;
if not, let it be lopped off our revenue as burthen-
some and unnecessary."

206 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

In respect to politics, it is wise to pass no judg-
ments. Like every other man, Mr. Dyson had a
right to think for himself. For my own part I have
seen so many patriotic talkers tyrants in their own
fields, houses, circles, and neighbourhoods ; and so
many advocates for aristocratical power mild, gentle,
and conciliating, that I have long ceased to form
judgments of men, grounded on the questionable
basis of poHtical opinion. Mr. Dyson thought for
himself, and acted for himself. As a private cha^
racter, he appears to have been highly estimable.
« He was an exceHent father,'' says Mr. Hatsell,
who dedicated to him the second volume of his
precedents of the proceedings of the House of Com-
mons ; ^^ of comprehensive knowledge, acuteness of
understanding, and inflexible integrity, great know-
ledge of history in general, and of the laws and
constitution of this country in particular.'' As the
friend and patron of Akenside he must always be
reverenced, and can never be forgotten *.

* Mr. Dyson survived his friend rather mcnre than six
years. He died Sept 16^ 1776^ universally respected and
beloved. At the time of his deaths he was M. P. for Hor9-
ham> a member of the Privy Council^ and cofferer to the
housdiold of George the third.

There are two letters^ still extant^ in MS.^ in which Mr.
\ Dyson is mentioned, from the celebrated Adam SMimf to

LIF£ OP AKENSIDE. 907

The whole oorrespondence of Akenside with Mr.
Dyson, if preserved, would have been, doubtless,

Dr. Roebuck of Birmingham. These letters are very re-
markable ;— not so much as they respect Mr. Dyson, as they
are in r^ard to the methods, which they developej pursued
by the administration (of which Mr. Dyson was a member),
in respect to the British colonies in America.

'' MY DEAB FRIEND,

*' This letter is wrote to you in perfect oon«
fidence, and at the particular detnre of a man of very con-
siderable consequence in this country. The contents of it
must be kept as secret as possible, even tho' you should
be disposed to comply with the proposal. If, after having
read and maturely considered it, you should not be dii^osed
to comply vdth it, I will beg the favour of you to thnno it
in ihejire*

** By the latest accounts from the Congress in America, it
iq^pears, that the Deputies from Maryland, New York, Pei^
sylvania, and New Hampshire, all firmly opposed a non-im-
portation agreement as absurd and ineffectual; they proposed
to try the interest of the Colonies in England, by sending a de»
putation with a petition to the King and Parliament: and to
endeavour to accommodate matters with the mother coun-
try, in the best manner that they could. This measure was
likely to be adopted, when letters arrived from Dr. Franklin,
recommending a non-importation agreement, as the measure
most likely to interest the merchants of £ng^d in thdr
favour, and to bring petitions to Parliament from all the
principal manufacturing towns, praying a repeal of the kUe
acts, relating to the town of Boston, and colony of Massa-
diusset's Bay. These letters altered entirely the disposition

208 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

a high treat to the intellectual reader. Only a
small portion of that correspondence, however, re-

t>f the Congress. The deputies of New York^ however^ being
OQn?inoed of the impropriety of the non-importation agree-
inent^ but not being able to prevent it^ were endeayouring
to evade it by modifying it A general non-importation
agreement was allowed^ on all hands^ to be absurd ; as there
were some commodities^ which they could not do without.
These necessary commodities were not the same in all the
different colonies. It was necessary^ therefore^ to r^^ulate
what commodities bhould be excluded only from certain
colonies. This was the state of the debates when the last
letters came away.

'^ In the mean time, Franklin's agents, assisted by some of
the worst and most unprincipled members of the opposition,
have been extremely active in some of the principal manu-
facturing towns of the North, particularly among the dis-
senters, to prepare the people for making and supporting such
petitions.

' '' There is nothing so much wanted, at present, as a man
of known probity, candour, and judgment, and of esta-*
blished credit and authority in these towns, who would take
tome pains to explain to the principal people the nature and
probable effects of this scheme: that it is in reality nothings
less, than an infamous conspira/:y to dismember the British
empire,

** If, under pretence of your own private business, you could
undertake, as soon as possible, for there is very little time to
lose, a journey through Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds,
Sheffield, &c., and, on seeing your friends, explain to them,
in a proper manner, the real state of the case, you would be
received here, by the principal members of administration.

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 209

mains; and this, it is hoped, will be, one day, given
to the world.

as a person, who had rendered the most important service to
the state.

*^ If there was any hope, that we should ever see your
friend Dtson in the state of health, in which you left him,
there is nothing, I am sure, would give him so much plea-
sure, or increase so much, if that be possible, the cordial
esteem he has always had for you. By the accounts I had
from his house to-day, I find he continues better, and, it
is to be hoped, is out of immediate danger, but still not
what he was.

" Franklin said, some years ago, in the presence of a par-
ticular friend of mine, with much triumph, that whatever
measures Great Britain might choose to pursue, with regard
to her colonies, whether mild or vigorous, they would equally
tend to bring about this great and desirable event of the en-
tire independency of America. Be assured, that this is his
determined purpose; which to his friends, he makes no
scruple of avowing. Will you sufibr your friends to be
made the tools of this* the worst citizen I ever knew in
Grreat Britain.

** I received, some weeks ago, a letter from Mr. Johnson.
His project lies a little out of my road, as I know few mer-
cantile people here. Diligent inquiry, however, neither has
been, nor shall be wanting. I shall write to him, as soon
as I know with certainty, whether I can or cannot be of any

♦The following words are lined in the MS. — ^* proud,
supercilious, and malignant knave, without any exception, the
worst citizen," &c.

P

910 LIFE QF AKSKSIDE.

«< Newgravcj Pettvorth^ Oct. 7, 18S1^

«

SIS,

** I received yesterday from my *)ii your
letter, requesting ' to be informed whether Dr.

use to him. Bemember me to Mrs. Soelmck and to aU llie
young gentlemen^ and let me hear from you soon.

^' I ever am, my dear frioid,

<« Most faithfully yours,

(Sign^) ^A.BmTa.

" Sujffblk Street, Charing Cross, No. 37.
« \7th Nov. 1774."

'^ MY ]>KA& WSLfSND,

" I shall be^n this letter with a drcumstanoe^
which I am sare> will he agreeable. Your friend, Mr..
Drsoy, is in a fair way towards a complete recovery. He
sits up the greater part of the day ; his spirits are yery good^
and his judgment, memory, and speech are all restored;

^^ Your letter of the 28th of November, I communicated
to the Solicitor-general *, who desired leave to keep it for
some days, till he had an opportunity of showing it to Lord
North, and conversing with him at leisure on the sul^ect*
His Iprdship, as well as my friend, expressed the highest
satisfaction at the honest zeal which your letter expressed,
as well as the highest confidence in the prudence, with which
they expect you will conduct thir business. They both
consider themselves, as well as the state, as under very par-

* Mr. Wedderburne, afterwards Lord Loughborough.

LIFE OF AKENSTDE. 211

Akenside had left any papers^ that could be in-
teresting to his 'numerous appreciators and ad-
mirers.'

" I have only some letters from him to my father,
in the early period of their friendship (from 1742 to
1745), which I looked at yesterday evening. Th6re
are passages in them which show the warmth of his
heart, the extent of his classical knowledge, and the
highness of his mind. But I doubt whether they
would now interest the public ; and as my father
never communicated them to any editor of his
friend's life, you will think me justified in follow-
ing his example.

ticular obligations to you; and^ when you come to town^
will be very happy in any opportunity of expressii^ their
sense of so important a service. Leeds^ I find^ is the town
that is most suspected^ and where the discontented party
have been making the greatest efforts to procure petitions.
K petitions cannot be prevented altogether, the expedient,
you propose, of counter-petitions is certainly the beat. I
shall be very happy to hear from you in the course of your
journey.

I ever am, my dear sir,

^^ most faithfully yours,
(Signed) '* A. Smith.

«

" SujffbUe Street, No, «7, Charing Cross,
« 9ih Dec. 1774."

p2

^19 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

" With every acknowledgmeDt of thfe terms in
which you speak of my father,

" I remain, Sir,

'* Your obedient servant,

*' J. Dyson.
** Charles Buche, Esq^

Akenside was a great admirer of Gothic archi-
tecture. ^^ I have occasionally caught him,^ said
Mr. Meyrick, " contemplating with great earnest-
ness the exterior of Westminster Abbey. He would
frequently sit, of a fine moonlight night, on the
benches in St. Jameses Park, gazing on that sublime
structure; and I remember he once told me, that
he seldom thought of the passage in his own poem,

' The rarliant sun^ the moon's nocturnal lamp/ &c.

but he thought of a still finer one in Pope's Homer.

'As when the moon^ refulgent lamp of light!
O'er heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred lights
When not a hreath disturbs the deep serene^
And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene ;
Around her throne the vivid planets roU^
And stars^ unnumber'd^ gild the glowing pole ;
O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed.
And tip with silver every mountain's head;
Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise.
And floods of glory burst from all the ^tes/

» n

LIFE OF AXENSIDE. S13

And this remiDds me of Bloomfield, author of
that immortal Georgic, ^^ The Farmer^b Boy.^
He was a great admirer of Akenside. ^^ There are
many parts of his great poem,^ said he to me, one
day, as we were walking together in his humble
garden, near the Shepherd and Shepherdess fields,
^^ that I do not comprehend; but what I do under-
stand, I cannot express my admiration of. I never
read his poem till after I had written my own;
but I think I must have somewhere seen this;
passage: —

< Some to higher hopes

Were destined ; some within a finer mould
She wrought^ and tempered, with a purer flame:
To these the sire OMNiroTSNT unfolds
The world's harmonious volume, there to read
The transcript of himsel£'

I never read these lines, but I feel myself, for
the moment, a poet of a far superior order than
that to which I really belong."**

In a life of Lord Byron, published a year or
two fflnce, I was greatly surprised, and, as a friend
of the party, whose memory is aggrieved, not a
little offended at the biographer's having given per-
manence to what, I should hope, was but a mere
momentary opinion of Lord Byron, in respect to
Bloomfield.

Lord Byron was, doubtless, a captivating poet i

S14 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

but his critical qualifications were slight. To be so
good a man as Robert Bloomfield were a distinction
almost enough for any* That he should have pined
away the latter years of his life in hopeless poverty
is a disgrace to the times, in which he lived ; and
England can no longer reproach Scotland with bit-
terness for the fate of Bums. A more innocent,
mUd, and unassuming man never adorned the
humble sphere in which he moved. His modesty
and merit, therefore, ought to have protected his
memory from the cold and heartless sneer of worths-
less vanity. Lord Byron might have learnt many
noble lessons of conduct from the poet, he presumed
to despise; since that poet — bom in one of the
humblest stations in civilized society — never wrote
one word, and probably never entertained one
thought, that might not be written in letters of
gold.

Bloomfield was of mean parentage; and so was
Akenside. The lower the rank, the greater the
merit. Though many persons afiect to despise pe^
digree, it is very certain, that no one really does so»
who h^s any distinction of that sort to boast of.
It is characteristic of the duke, the peasant, and
the savage. But these are not times in which men
can be successfully ridiculed for their birth, profes-
sions, callings, or trades. The best of sovereigns

LIVE OF AKENSIDSU 215

was a husbandman ^» If ridicule must be cast,
let it be thrown on vice, folly, insolence, and
pretension; but let it not be cast on men, more
intrit^cally to be admired, than many members of
the first families in the kingdom. Had Bacon only
been a viscount, would he have stood at the head
of modem philosophy ? Had Byron only been a
baron, he had already fulfilled the purpose for
which he lived; and might now sleep— assured of
forgetfulness-^in the vault of his ancestors*

The subject of Akenside was of the highest class ;
it could not, therefore, be made a subject for con-
tempt with any one* Can the poetry oi Bloomfield?
He borrowed nothing from the Greek, the Latin,
the French, or the Italian : though some of his
coincidences with the Greek poets are particularly
remarkable* Nature only was his book ; hence his
PASTORALS are superior to any others in the lan-
guage; and his poem, descriptive of a Farmer^s
life, is, perhaps, second only to Virgil's Georgics.

it

Fret not thyself, thou glittering child of pride.
That a poor Villager inspires my strain ;
With thee let Pageantry and Power abide;
The gentle Muses haunt the sylvan reign j

» Piastus, King of Poland.

216 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

VHiere through wild groYes at ere the lonely swain
Enraptur'd roams, to gaze on Nature's charms.
They hate the sensual, and scorn the vain ;
The parasite their influence nerer warms ;
Nor him, whose sordid soul the love of gold alarms.

Akenside had now advanced to the 4dth year of
his age. He was in the zenith, as it were, of in-
tellectual life ; in the enjoyment of an agreeable,
though not an extensive practice ; celebrated as a
poet ; blessed with many friends, and one not to be
surpassed ; and in connexion with all which, he was
blessed beyond the ordinary race of mortals, in the
power of commanding true happiness in the enjoy-
ment of an elegant mind, a benevolent heart, and
views, far from being too ambitious for his peace.

In the midst of all this, he was suddenly seized
with a putrid sore throat, which terminated in his
death on the 23d of June, 1770. He died in
Bloomsbury-square, and was buried in St. Jameses
church. Mr. Dyson administered to his effects,
and became possessor of his books, furniture, MSS.,
and other property, as Akenside had directed, pre-
vious to his death.

Though Akenside did not attach himself to any
of his brother-poets, he had a long list of friends ;
amongst whom, in addition to those already men-
tioned , were Sir Francis Drake, Bart., the Earl

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. S17

of Huntingdon, Dr. Markham, Lord North, Dr.
Reeve, Sir John Hawkins, Mr. Cracherode, Dr.
Wharton, and Dr. Birch.

** He was a most unprejudiced and candid esti-
mc^ter of contemporary poets,'* says Mr. Hardinge;
'^ for which I admired him the more on account of
its amiable singularity.''^ The opinion of his judg.
ment by friends may be judged of by the following
letter from Dr. Birch to Mr. Wray. " You
know the eagerness of our curiosity here for what
occurs in the republic of letters ; for which reason
you will furnish yourself, before your journey,
with such new productions as may deserve our
perusal, or such an account of them as may be
equivalent to the works themselves. Vaillant may
probably supply you with some Journaux des
Sfavans, imported within this month or six weeks.
But we do not exact from you the purchase of
the < Memoirs of Lord Bolingbroke,^ which, I
judge, from Dr. Aken side's account of the book,
not to be worth it ; though, if any friend of yours
has hazarded four shillings for it, and is willing to
spare it, for a few days, we shall not be disinclined
to see what the Apologist can say for a character
so exceptionable*.''

* Nichols Illust iv. 534.

218 UFS OF AKBNSIDE.

The features of Akenside were expr^rive and
manly in a very high degree ; but his complexion
was pale, and his deportment solemn. He dressed,
too, in a very precise manner, and wore a powdered
wig in stiff curl. In respect to disposition, he is
said to have been irritable, and to have had little
restraint upon his temper before strangers; with
whom he was precise and ceremonious, stiff, and
occasionally sententious and dictatorial.

He had no taste for humour ; had little patience
in respect to jests ; and having no wit himself, could
ill brook the coarse wit of others ; and was, more-
over, of Lord Waldegrave*s opinion, that a true
gentleman never jests. Yet he was himself a sa-
tirist, and had no mean talent that way, as many
of his poems testify. But in the following passage,
it is impossible, that he could have alluded to Pope,
as some have asserted, and many have believed.

'^ Thee, too, facetious Momion / wandering here ;
Thee, dreaded censor ! oft I have beheld,
Bewilder'd unawares : alas! too long
Flush'd with thy comic triumphs, and the spoib
Of sly derision !— till on every side.
Hurling thy random bolts, offended Truth
Assign'd thee here thy station, with the slaves
Of Folly, — Thy once formidable name
Shall grace her humble records, and be heard.

i

LIFE OF AKENSIDB. 219

In Bcoflb and mockery^ bandied from the lips
Of all the yengefiil brotherhood around;
So oft the patient yictims of thy scorn."

P. 7, B. III. I 179.

Some, I say, have imagined the poet to have, in
this passage, alluded to Pope ; and Mrs. Barbauld,
after admitting its probability, goes on to observe
— ^^ Surely, no man of just moral taste can reflect
without regret, that a capital work of one of our
best poets, composed in the height of his reputation,
and during the perfection of all his powers, should
have no other end, than to gratify the spleen of an
offended author, and to record the petty warfare of
rival wits.''

These observations are, certainly, just : — but the
fact is, Akenside could not allude to Pope in this
passage; for it is evident that the poet had seen
the person whom he satirizes.

^' Thee^ dreaded censor ! oft / have beheld
Bevnlderd unawares : alas ! too long
Flush'd with thy comic triumphs^ and the spoils
Of sly derision."

Now, few things are more certain, than that Aken-
side never visited London, till his arrival from
Leyden ; and that he oflTered his poem to Dodsley
almost immediately after is equally certain. It

12S0 LIFE OF AKENSIDE.

is very unlikely, that he should have seen Pope
during the time, in which his poem was print-
ing: but even if he had done so, it must have
been with complacency (and then not ^^ often^) ;
since Pope had desired Dodsley to make him no
mean oflTer, as he was " no every day writer .'* The
passage, there can be little doubt, refers to some
pompous, facetious, and censorious blockhead,
whom Akenside had been in the habit of seeing at
Newcastle, at Edinburgh, or at Leyden.

The Hon. George Habdinge says in his letter
to Mr. Nichols, that Akenside's ** great powers,
besides the talent for poetry, were, those of eloquent
reasoning, historical knowledge, and philosophical
taste, enlivened by the happiest and most brilliant
allusions.'^' " He had, too, a most astonishing me-
mory, and a most luminous application of it.^

Sib John Hawkins says of his conversation,
that it was of the most delightful kind ; learned,
instructive, and without any affectation of wit;
cheerful and highly entertaining : — and he gives an
account of a dinner party, which he enjoyed with
him, Mr. Dyson, and another friend, at Putney;
when the poet, surrounded by his friends, and en-
joying their society in the enlivening sunshine of a
summer'^s day, seemed to feel a joy, that he lived ;

LIFE OF AKENSIDE. 921

and in consequence poured out his gratulations and
thanksgiving to the great Dispenser of all felicity.
in words^ which Plato himself might have uttered,
on a similar occasion.

Yet he was not always agreeable ih conversation.
He had a high sense of his own merits ; and when
persons of an inferior cast presumed upon their,
ignorance, or want of good-breeding, to intrude
their observations too unceremoniously, Akenside
seldom denied himself the satisfaction of chastising
their presumption, by the adoption of a manner,
perhaps too severe/ satirical^ and splenetic. But in
the society of those mild and gentle spirits, who
admired his genius, and respected his virtues, he
was kindness itself. His language flowed chastely,
gracefully, and eloquently ; and his varied know-
ledge, argumentative reasonings, and nice distinc-
tions; his fine appreciation of philosophical allusions,
and keen relish for the beauties of the creation, would
display themselves in pure and copious streams of
eloquence, never, perhaps, surpassed by the greatest
masters of social life, the world ever knew.

His memory was at once discriminative and com-
prehensive. He retained all the riches of art,
science, and history, legislation, poetry, and philo-
sophy ; and these he would draw out and embody

229 LIFE OF AKEKSIDE.

to suit the occasioii, required, in a manner, not more
wonderful to those, who were partially informed,
than delightful to those, who could fellow his track,
and continue with him to the end.

Yet he is said to have, in general, wanted gaiety
of heart in society* He was naturally of a cheerful
temper; but his cheerfulness was accompanied
by a mellowness of feeling, which sometimes re^
lapsed into melancholy. Not that corroave me-
lancholy, however, which unstrings the mind and
renders it incapable of life and action ; but of that
sweet and delightful nature, which Dter has so
beautifully characterized in his *^ Ruins of Rome.*^

^' There is a mood

(I fiing not to the vacant or the young}^

There is a kindly mood of melancholy^

That wings the souI> and points her to the skies.

NOTES, &c.

1

NOTES, &c.

" Soon after the publication of the Pleasures of
Imagination, Akenside,'' says Mr. Dyson, " became
conscious that it wanted revision and correction :
but so quick was the demand for successive editions,
that in any of the intervals to have completed the
whole of his corrections was iilipossible. He chose,
therefore, to continue reprinting it without any
corrections or improvements, until he should be
able at once to give them to the public complete ;
and with this view he went on, for several years, to
review and correct his poem at leisure, till at length
he found the task grow so much upon his hands,
that, despairing ever being able to execute it to his
' own satisfaction, he abandoned the purpose of cor-
recting, and resolved to write the poem over anew,
upon a somewhat different and enlarged plan ; and
in the execution of this design, he had made a con-
siderable progress.*" He printed the first and second
books for his own private use ; and transcribed a
considerable portion of the third book, in order to

226 NOTES.

its being printed in the same manner : ^^ and to
these,'' continues Mr. Dyson, "he added the in-
troduction to a subsequent book, which in MS. is
called the fourth, and which appears to have been
composed at the time, when the author intended to
comprise the whole in four books ; but as he after-
wards determined to distribute the poem into more
books, might, perhaps, more properly be called the
last book. This," continues Mr. Dyson, " is all
that is executed of the new work; which, although
it appeared to the editor too valuable, even in its
imperfect state, to b^ withholden from the public,
yet (he conceives) takes in by much too small a part
of the original poem to supply its place, and to
supersede the republication of it.''

Besides this, Akenside left behind him a copy of
the original poem with marginal alterations, which
came into the possession of the late Mr. Pinkerton,
who published them in a collection of letters on
various subjects, under the name of Robert Heron.

What Akenside proposed in the second poetn is
thus laid down by himself in the general argument*

^' The Pleasures of the Imagination proceed either
from natural objects ; as from a flourishing grove, a
clear and murmuring fountain, a calm »^a by moon--

KOTES. 22*t

Itgfdi — or, from works of art, such as a noble edifice,
a musical tune, a statue, a picture, a poem,

" In treating of these pleasures^ we must begin with
the former class ; they being original to the other ; and
nothing more being necessary, in order to explain them,
than a view of our natural inclination towards greatness
and beauty, and of those appearances^ in the world
around us, to which that inclination is adapted *.

*' But the pleasures, which we receive from the
elegant arts, from music, sculpture, painting, and
poetry, are much more varied and complicated.

^^ In them (besides greatnsss and beauty, or forms
proper to the imagination) we find interwoven frequent
representations of truth, of virtue and of vice, of cir-
cumstances, proper to move us with laughter, or to
excite in us pity, fear, and the other passions f.

'^ With the above-mentioned causes of pleasure,
which are universal in the course of human life, and
appertain to our higher faculties, many others do ge-
nerally occur, more limited in their operation, or of an
inferior origin: such are the novelty of objects, the
association of ideas, affections of the bodily senses, in-
fluence of education, national habits, and the likeX.

* " This is the subject of the first book."

t ^ These moral and intellectual objects are described in
the second book ; to which the third properly belongs as an
episode, though too large to have been included in it."

X " To illustrate these, and from the whole to determine the
character of a perfect taste, is the argument of the fourth
book."

^2

n

S28 NOTES.

" Hitherto the Pleasures of the Imagination belong to
the human species in general. But there are certain
particular men, whose imagination t^ endowed with
powers y and susceptible of pleasures, which the genC"
rality of mankind never participate. These are the
MSN of GENIUS^ destined by nature, to excel in one or
other of the arts, already mentioned.

'' It is proposed, therefore, in the last place, to de-
lineate that genius, which, in some degree^ appears
common to them all ; yet with a more particular con-
sideration of poetry; inasmuch as poetry is the most
extensive of those arts, the most philosophical, and the
most useful"

That Pope injured the Dunciad, by extending it
from three books to four, is universally admitted ;
and that Akenside's second poem is inferior to the
first, is, I believe, as universally conceded. It is
dangerous for an author to be too diiScult to please,
and too diffident of himself. Founded on the papers
of Addison in the Spectator, bearing the same title;
and many of its passages being associated with the
works of Shaftesbury and Hutcheson, there may be
some question as to whether Akenside can be strictly
styled an original writer; yet, I think, that praise
cannot justly be denied to him ; since in his poem,
as an elegant critic has observed with great propriety,
he has united the grace of Virgil, the colouring of

Milton, and the incidental expression of Shake-
speare^ to paint the finest features of the human
mind^ and the most lovely forms of true morality and
religion.

His periods are, however, frequently too long \
many of his images are too splendid to be clearly
observed ; there is, occasionally, a redundancy of
words; and Johnson criticises with his accus-
tomed judgment, when he say&, that the reader
wanders through the gay diffusion, sometimes
amazed, and sometimes delighted ; that the sense is
carried on through a long intertexture of compli-
cated clauses; and that his images are displayed
with such luxuriance of expression, that they are
lost under a superfluity of dress.

The second poem has more solidity than the first;
but less power. It is more correct and severe; but
less brilliant, less touching, less enchanting ; and the
imagination is seldom so agreeably carried

t<

Beyond the visible diurnal sphere."

" Had Akenside completed his plan,'' says Df .
Aikin, ^^'his poem would have lost as much in
poetry as it would have gained in philosophy.**
** If his genius," says Mrs. Barbauld, " is to
be estimated from this poem, it will be found to be

230 NOTES.

lofty and elegant, chaste, correct, and classical; not
marked with strong traits of originality, not ardent,
nor exuberant. His enthusiasm was rather of that
kind, which is kindled by reading, and imbibing
the spirit of authors, than by contemplating at first
hand the works of nature. As a versifier, Akenside
is allowed to stand amongst those, who have given
the most finished models of blank verse. His periods
are long, but harmonious; the cadences full of
grace ; and the measure is supported with uniform
dignity. His Muse possessed the mien erect, and
high commanding gait. We shall scarcely find a
low or trivial expression introduced, a careless and
unfinished line permitted to stand. His stateliness,
however, is somewhat allied to stifibess. His verse
is sometimes feeble, through too rich a redundancy
of oiiiament ; and sometimes laboured into a degree
of obscurity, from too anxious a desire of avoiding
natural and simple expressions.**

Such is the appreciation of Mrs. Barbauld ; and,
as a kindred specimen of criticism, we may append
the opinion of a French critic.

" Le poeme des Plaisirs de rimagination, qui a
ete acciteiUi avec enihousiasme dans son origine, est
encore regarde comine un des pltis beanx monuments
de la poesie Angiaise ; il est cependant mains lu

NOTES.

231

qu^il fCest admire. H est ecrit en vers blancSy comme
le poeme de MiUon; et Akenside a peutStre mieux
connu que MiUon m&me Vharmonte propre a ce genre
de poisie. Le style est dlgne du styet; le ton en est
Sieve f la cauleur MUante^ et la diction tris-figuree;
mais Us idees trop metaphysiques qui y dominentj
Vemphi trop Jriquent des termes abstraitSy et
rdbus des metaphores repandent sur tout I'ouvragei
une certaine obscurite que fatigue Fesprit^

Iq the first instance, the poem, as before observed,
is founded on Addison^s celebrated papers in the
Spectator, illustrative of the same subject ; and cer-
tain passages in Lord Shaftesbury's Characteristics,
and Hutcheson^s Inquiry into the Original of our
Ideas of Beauty and Virtue. Some thoughts are,
also, acknowledged to have been taken from Plato
and Aristotle; one from Longinus; and several
from the De Serum Natura of Lucretius.

^2 NOTES.

BOOK THE FIRST.

'* Attend, ye powers

Of musicai delight !"

Whether Akenside ever attached himself to any
musical instrument does not appear. But that he
was passionately devoted to music, as a hearer,
there can be little doubt. The love of sweet sounds
is almost native to the poetical character. But we
have a still better evidence to offer ; and that is a
note, appended to the original edition of his great
poem, which has, — wherefore I am at a loss to con-
jecture, — been omitted in most of the subsequent
editions.

^' The word musical is here taken in its original and
most extensive import; comprehending as well the
pleasures, we receive from the beauty or magnificence
of natural objects^ as those Mchich arise from poetry,
painting, music, or any other of the elegant and ima-
ginative arts. In which sense, it has already been used
in our language, by ^vriters of unquestionable autho-
rity."

From this note it appears, that Akenside attached
the idea of music to every thing, that was agreeable
to him, whether in Nature or in Art.

NOTES. S38

^' But the love

Of Nature and the Muses bid explore^

Through secret paths^ erewhile untrod of man,

The fair poetic region^ — to detect

Untasted springs^ to drink inspiring draughts,

And shade my temples with unfading flowers^

Cull'd from the laureate vale's profound recess^

Where never poet gain'd a wreath before."

/. 48.

Partly from an exquisite passage in Lucretius :— >

** Nunc age> quod super est^ cognosce^ et darius audi :
Nee me animi fallit, quam sit obscura ; sed acri
Percussit thyrso kudis spes magna meum cor,
£t simul incussit suavem mi in pectus amorem
Musarum : quo nunc instinctus, mente vigenti
Avia Pieridum peragro loca, nullius ante
Trita solo : juvat integros adcedere funteis,
Atque haurire ; juvatque novos decerpere flores,
Insignemque meo capiti petere inde coronam,
Unde prius nulli velarint tempora Muss."

De Rerum Natura, Lib* I, v» 99,0,

Virgil, too :

*' Nee sum animi dubius> verbis ea vincere magnum
Quam sit, et angustis hunc addere rebus honorem.
8ed me Pamassi deserta per ardua dulcis
Raptat Amor ; juvat ire jugis, qua nulla priorum
Castaliam moUi devertitur orbita divo."

Georg, IIL 289.

^

284 NOTES.

*' Ere the radiant sun

Sprang from the eaat^ or mid the vault of night

The moon suspended her serener lamp i

Ere mountains^ woods, or streams adorn'd the glohe>

Or wisdom taught the sons of men her lore ;

Then lived the Ax^MiaHTY One." /. /. 59.

This fine passage seems to have been con*
ceived from a few lines in a poem, containing an
insufferable degree of bombast with some portion,
and more imitation^ of Miltonic fire. It is entitled
the Last Day; written by J. Bctlkeley, Esq. of
Clare Hall, Cambridge, and published in 1720.

«^ Ere Titan leam'd to shower his golden streams.
Ere clouds adorn'd the air, or stars the void.
Nature dropp'd dormant, in the hosom lost

Of savage chaos

Rude rocks, misshapen hills, and glohes unform'd.
Then rose the Almighty," &c.

Probably Akenside had read Georgius : —

«

Unus perfectus Deus est, qui cuncta creavit,
Cuncta foveus, atque ipse fovens super omnia in se;
Quis capitur mente tantum, qui mente videtur j"
&c. &c.

Franc. Georg. in Lib* de Hermo de Mund**

* Beauties and Sublimities of Nature, vol. iv. p. 163.

NOTES. 235

Thus Milton :—
*' Before the sun.

Before the heavens thou wert; and at the voice
Of God, as with a mantle, didst invest
The rising world of waters, dark and deep.
Won from the dark and formless infinite."

Thus Maximus Tyrius: — ^^ God is the Father
and Creator of every things that eansts ; before the
sun he is ; and before the heavens existed^ to him a
being^

In Ovid, we read : —

^' Ante mare et tellus, et, quod legit omnia, coelum,

Unus erat toto Naturae vultus," &c.

Met. 1. 1, 5.

In the Psalms, xl. 2. — " Before the mountaifis
were brought forth^ or ever thou hadst formed tfie
earth and the worlds ^ even Jrom everlasting to
everlasting thxm art GodJ"

In the laws of Menu : — " This universe eocisted
only in the first divine idea^ yet unexpanded^ as if
involved in darkness, and as if it were wholly im-
mersed in sleep. Then the self-existing power
appeared expanding his idea,^ &c.

Petrarch has a very extravagant idea: — " The
beauty of Laura existed in the conception of the
Divinity, before the creation of the universe.'*'

2S6 NOTES.

'' From the first

Of days, on them his love divine he fix'd—
His admiration ; till in time complete
What he admired and loved, his vital smile
Unfolded into heing." /. /. 70.

There is a singular coincidence of thought be-
tween this fine passage, and a beautiful one in a
Hindoo hymn to " the Spirit of God," translated
by Sir Wm. Jones. There is, also, a similar idea
in a fragment of Orpheus, quoted by Proclus ; and
^mother in the Edda of Saemund.

*' With vnte intent.

The hand of Nature on peculiar minds
Imprints a difierent hias ; and to each
Decrees its province in the common toil."

B, I. V. 82.

Thus Lucretius :

** Quam vis doctrina politos

Constituat pariter quosdaro, tamen ilia relinquit
datura quotusque animi vestigia prima"

De Rer, Nat IIL 308.

^' For as old Memnon's image, long renown 'd

By fabling Nilus, to the quivering touch

Of Tiian's ray, with each repulsive string

Consenting, sounded through the warbling air

Unbidden strains;— e'en so did Nature's hand.

To certain species of external things.

Attune the finer organs of the mind."

/. I 109.

i^oTEs. 237

Akenside appears to have caught this idea from
a passage in one of Moliere's comedies : ^^ Made'- .
moiselle, ne phis^ ne moins que la status de Mem--
non rendoit un son harmonieu-x lorsqiCelle venoit a
etre eclairee des rayons du sdeU ; tout de mime me
senS'je anime d'un doux transport a Tappa/rition
du soleil de vos beautes,''

Le Malade Imaginaire, a. II. S. 5.

There is^ also, a passage, allied to this, in Lope
de Vega's heroic poem of " La Hervmsura de
Angelica :*"

'^ Que coma con la musica se haze,
Concorde son," &c. &c. •

Porphyry has a beautiful idea. The original is
not at hand; but the sense stands thus: — ^' In our
sensations, the soul moves, as if embodied Harmony
itself should play upon an instrument, and smartly
touch the well-tuned strings; but the body is like
that harmony, which dwells in the springs them-
selves, which have no perception of it.*"

* Vid. Beauties, Harmonies, and Sublimities of Nature,
vol. iv. p. 161.

238 NOTES.

Id the MS. corrected copy the reading stands thus :

" As Memnon's marble form, renown'd of M
By fabling Nilus^ at the potent touch
Of morning utter'd from its inmost frame
Unbidden music ; so hath Nature's hand
To certain species of external things
Attuned the finer organs of the mind.
So the glad impulse of congenial powers^
Or of sweet sound, or fair proportioned form.
The grace of motion, or the pomp of light.
Shoots through Imagination's tender frame;
Through every naked nerve ; till all the soul
To that harmonious movement pow resigns
Her functions. Then the inexpressive strain
Diffuseth its enchantment Fancy dreams.
Rapt into high discourse with sainted bards ;
And, wandering through £lysium, fancy dreams
Of mystic fountains, and inspiring groves;
Fountains, the haunt of Orpheus ; liappy groves.
Where Milton dwells^ The intellectual power
Bends from his solemn throne a wondering ear
And smiles :— The Passions to divine repose
Persuaded yield ; and Love and Joy alone
Are waking ; Love and Joy, such as await
An angd's meditation."

It is, pdrhaps, not too much to say, that this is
the finest and most splendid passage in the whole
range of didactic poetry.

In respect to the' statue, Akenside, in the original
edition, had appended the following note : —

NOTES. 289

** The statue of Memnon, so famous in antiquity,
stood in the temple of Serapis at Thebes, one of
the great cities of old Egypt. It was of a very
hard, iron -like substance*; and, according to Ju-
venal, held in its hand a lyre, which, being touched
by the sun-beams, emitted a distinct and agreeable
sound. Tacitus mentions it as one of the principal
curiosities, which Germanicus took notice of, in his
journey through Egypt ; and Strabo -f affirms, that
he, with many others, heard it.''

The first seven lines, as originally written, are thus
rendered by Mazza :

** Come rimago di Memnon^ cui nome
Etemo die la favolosa Egitto^
Agli urti primi del Titanio raggio
Prouta movea Tobbedienti corde^
Che^ tremolando^ lo spontaneo suono
Per entro 11 gorgbeggiante aere spandeano,
Cos! Natura ancor gli estemi oggetti
A' nostri piu sottili organi accorda/'

* Philostratus says it was of black marble. In Vit. Apol*
yi. c. 4.

t It is mentioned^ also, by Pliny {NcU. Hist vii. c. 56,),
Pausanias^ and Juvenal :

" Dimidis magicee resonant ubi Memnone Chords."

240 NOTES.

*' Then the inexpressive strain," &c.

B. L /. 124.

" When we want to render an object beautiful or
magnificent,^ says Blair, ** we borrow images from
all the most beautiful or splendid scenes of nature;
we thereby, naturally, throw a lustre over our object;
we enliven the reader's mind ; and dispose him to go
along with us, in the gay and pleasing impressions,
which we give him of the subject. This eflTect of
figures is happily touched in the following lines of
Akenside, and illustrated by a very sublime figure :

' Then the inexpressive strain

Diffuses its enchantment/" &c

■" O, attend.

Whoe'er thou art," &c /. L 132.
This passage stands differently in the MS. :
" O ! attend.

Whoe'er thou art, whom these delights can touch.
Whom Nature's aspect, Nature's simplest garb,
Can thus command ; O ! listen to my song.
And I will guide thee to her blissful walks.
And teach thy solitude her voice to hear.
And point her graciotis features to thy^ view."

Second Poem,

■« O ! attend.

Whoe'er thou art, whom these delights can move.

NOTES. ^41

Whose candid bosom this primfeval love
Of Nature warms: O! listen to my song»
And I will guide thee to her holiest walks^
And teach her solitude thy voice to hear^
And point her awjvl features to thy view."

MS.

" The powers of Fancy^ her delighted sons
To THREE illustrious orders have referr'd^
Three sister Graces, whom the painter's hand^
The poet's tongue, confesses; the sublime,
The wonderful, the fair.

*9

B. 7. 140.

This division is from Addison : the poet, how-
ever, in his second poem, reduces the number from
three to two,

" In TWO illustrious orders comprehend
Self-taught From him^ whose rustic toil, the lark
Cheers warbling,— to the bard, whose daring thoughts
Range the full orb of being, still the form
Which fancy worships, or sublime or fair.
Her votaries proclaim."

B. I. 183.

In the MS. corrected copy :

•'* To the bard, whose mighty mind

Grasps the full orb of being ; still the form
Which fancy worships^ or sublime or fair.
Their eager tongues proclaim."

These alterations it is highly important to note*

R

848 NOTES.

They are delightful evidences of (he mechanism of
a poet^s mind; than which nothing, perhaps, is more
agreeable to the imagination in the whole labora-
tory of mental exercise.

'* Say^ why was man bo eminently raised
Amid the vast creation- — "

down to

. '' Who that from Alpine heights^ his lahouring eye

Shoots round the wide horizon to soryey

Nihis, 9r Qanges^ rolling his bright wave^

Through mountains^ plains, through empires black with

shade^

And continents of sand^ will turn hig gaase

To mark the windings of a scanty rill^

That murmiurs at his feet ?"

B, I. V. 151—183.

These admirable lines are founded on a passage
in Longinus* ; which the poet acknowledges and
translates f.

* De Sub. Sect xxxv.

t '' Those god-like geniuses were well assured^ that
Nature had not intended man for a low spirited or ignoble
being ; but bringing us into life> and in the midst of this
wide universe^ as before a multitude assembled at some heroic
solemnity, that we might be spectators of all her magnificence,
and candidates high in emulation for the prize ofglfxry. She
has, therefore, implanted in Q\a opuls an inextinguishable
love of every thing great and exalted, of every thing which
ai^fiars diyin^ beyond our comprehension. yVbenoe it comes

NOTES. 243

'' Who that from Alpine heights, &c.?"

B. 1. 1. 177.

Dr. Johnson objects to the epithet Alpine, His
note is a curious instance of the facility, with which

to pass, that e^en the whole world is not an ol^ect, sufficient
for the depth and rapidity of human imagination, which
often sallies forth beyond the limits of all that surrounds us.
Let any man cast his eye through the whole circle of our
existence, and consider how especially it abounds in excellent
and grand olijectSyhe will soon acknowledge for what enjoy-
ments and pursuits we were destined. Thus by the y^y
propensity of nature we are led to admire, not little springs
or shallow rirulets, however dear and delicious, but the
Nile, the Rhine, the Danube, and, much more than all,
the ocean V

f>

* It must be confessed, that this version is greatly inferior
to that of Smith : which forms, perhaps, the most sublime
passage in the whole extension of translated prose. It has,
in fact, almost every quality, by which excellence in the
higher departments of language can be recognised.

'* Nature never designed Man to be a grovelling and un-
generous animal : but brought him into life, and placed him
in the world, as in a crowded theatre, not to be an idle spec-
tator, but spumed on by an eager thirst of excelling, ardently
to contend in the pursuit of glory. For this purpose, she im-
planted in his soul an invincible love of grandeur, and 9
constant emulation of whatever seems to approach nearer to
divinity than himself. Hence it is, that the whole Ymiverse
is not sufficient for the extensive reach and piercing specula*

r2

24 1 NOTES.

even eminent minds can fall into the errors, they
are ambitious of correcting.

" The sense of his words is strained," says
Johnson, " when he views Ganges from Alpine
heights; that is, from mountains like the Alps;
and the pedant surely intrudes (but when was
blank verse without pedantry?) when he tells us
how planets absolve the stated round of time.''
Surely, this is in itself an instance of true pedantry,
Akenside, however, seems himself to have wavered,
in respect to the propriety of using this finely de^
scriptive epithet ; for in the second poem, he writes
" aerial ;** and in his marginal notes " mid-air.*"

'^ Now, amazed, she views

The empyreal waste, where happy spirits hold.
Beyond the concave heaven, their calm abode."

/. V. 201.

tion of the human understanding. It passes the bounds of
the material world, and launches forth at pleasure into end-
less space. Let any one take an exact survey of life, which,
in its every sense, is conspicuous on account of excellence*
grandeur, and beauty; and he will soon discern for what noble
ends we were bom. Thus the impulse of nature inclines us
to admire, not a little, clear, transparent rivulet, that ad-
ministers to our necessities; but the Kile, the Isther, the
Rhine, and still more the ocean."

The passage, quoted from Leibnitz, in all the
editions of Akenside, is incorrect and incomplete.
It stands thus in the last Paris edition:— "D'ai/-
leurs, comme U ny a nulle raison gui porte d croire
quHl y a des ttoiles par touty ne se peut-il point
qijCil y ait tm grand espace au dela de la region des
itoiles ? Qtie ce soit le del empyree^ ou non, tou-
Jours cet espace immense, qui environne tout cette
region, pourra itre rempli de bonfieur et de ghire.
H pourra itre concH comme Tocecm, oil se rendent
Us Jleuves de toutes Us creatures Inen fieureuses,
gua^id eUes seront venues a Uur perfection da/ns U
systeme des ^toi&i9.^<*-L£iBNiTz dans la Theodicee.
Part L Sect. 19.

Akenside seems, also, to have remembered two
lines in Lucretius: —

" Omnis enim per se divdm natura^ necesse est,
Immortali sevo samma cum pace fruatur."

De Rerum datura, IL 645..

Mr. Murphy, in a poetical epistle to Dr. John-
son, after enumerating several examples of ^^ wealthy
genius, pining midst its store,**' joins Gray and
Ak£Nsid£ after the following manner :

(€

E'en Gray, unwilling, strikes his living lyre.
And wishes, not content, for Pindar's fire :

246 NOTES.

And tliftt tweet bard, who to our fancy brings
* The gayest, happiest attitude of things/
His raptured verse can throw^ neglected^ by.
And to Lucretius lift a reverend eye."

u

Fields of radiance^ whose unfading lig^t

Has travell'd the profound six thousand years^

Nor yet arrives in sight of mortal things." B, L 204.

*' Est igitur natura loci^ spatiumque profundi.
Quod neque dara suo percurrere lumina cursu
Perpetuo possint sevi labentia traetu ^
Nee j^orsum facere, ut restet minus ire, meando ,
Usque adeo passim patet ingens copia rebus,
Finibus exemptis, in cunctas undique parteis."

De Rerum Natura, Lib. I. v, 100 f.

** It was a notion of the great Huygens," says
Akenside, " that there may be stars at such a di-
stance from our solar system, as that their light
shall not have had time to reach us, even froin the
creation of the world to this day."

Light — which Plato figuratively calls tJie sha»
Aofto of (he divmi^-^is about eight minutes and a
half coming to our globe from the sun. From a
knowledge of this velocity, it is proved that the
rays of light, which we receive from Sirius, are six
years and four and a half months traversing the
space between us. But when we consider the
distance of some of the nebulae, it is calculated that
the light, we receive from them, cannot be less than

NOTES. 247

two millions of years upon its journey ! Those
nebulae must, therefore, have existed, at the leastj
two millions of years before their light could first
reach the hemisphere of the earth; while wcj— ^
presumptuous as W(S are !-^have power to prove an
existence of little more than the momentary span
of four thousand nine hundred and five years.

When the eye traverses the universe, the Sutij
and all its accompaniments, sink into comparative
insignificance! When we pierce into the depth
of space, and find, that the whole of what is called
the Galaxy, with all the scattered stars, are to be
considered as forming only one vast nebula^ to
which our solar system also belongs; — when we
consider, that the distance of one of the stars
in Lyra is from the eAtih lAott than tvi^enty
billions of miles ; and that its diameter cannot be
less than three-fourths of the size of the entire solar
system, circtimscribed as it is to our vision bjr the
last satellite of UrAnus*; — that riot le^s than two

* As the satellites of Uranus move in orbits, perpendicu-
lar to the plane of the Ecliptic, and in a retrograde direction,
contrary to the analogy of all other secondaries, as well as
primaries, they appear to justify a supposition, that they in^
dicaie the approach, if not the actual beginning of another
province of the Solar Empire; of which they are the heralds
and connecting links.

Some inconvenience having arisen from the circumstance

248 NOTES.

thousand five hundred nebulae have been already
traced in the firmament ;~rand that the rapidity

of the satellites of Saturn having been numbered^ not in
the order of distance, but of discovery; and the names,
given to those of Jupiter by the illustrious Galileo^ Sinum
Marius, and Baptista Hodiema, having fallen into disuse; I
took the liberty, a short time since, of proposing another no-
menclature, more in consonance with that, already established
for the larger Planets. The use and propriety of this nomen-
clature having been conceded by several eminent persons,
perhaps the reader will excuse me for endeavouring to acquire
for it a still more extended consideration.

Sateiiites of Jupiter.

First in the order of distance . . . Hebe.

Second Astrsa.

Third Flora.

Fourth Pomona.

Sateiiites of Saium,

First in the order of distance . . . Cybele.

Second Thetis.

Third Doris.

Fourth Hygeia.

Fifth Echo.

Sixth Psyche.

Seventh Fortuna.

Satellites of Urcmtis {HerschelJ,

First in the order of distance . . . Urania.

Second Calliope.

Third CUo.

Fourth Melpomena

Fifth ThaUa.

Sixth Erato.

NOTES. 249

•

p{ motion, by which stars are upheld in their
relative positions, is so great, that the revolu-
.tions of two (apparently forming one), in the
constellation of Ursa Major, round their centre of
gravity, may be traced from month to month; —
when we contemplate, I say, the number^ the mag-
nitude, the vastness of distance, the velocity and
regularity of motion; system beyond system, and
nebula beyond nebula ; presenting to the imagina-
tion, at every step, new forms of life and new orders
of intelligence,— the mind becomes impressed with a
sublimity of admiration, so full and so entire, that
it is with no surprise we afterwards come to the
conclusion, that those, who thus with the works of
the Deity ^^ hold converse,^ must, as a natural re-
sult, more intimately, though perhaps more silently,
than any other men,

i<

Act upon his plan.

And form to his the relish of their souls."

The finest and most sublime poetical conception,
that has yet entered into the mind of man, appears
to be that, which pictures innumerable suns, rising
put of chaos; and, in rising, throwing out their
planets ; those planets sending out their satellites ;
all moving with inconceivable rapidity, orb with-

260 NOTES.

in orb, ixHind some general centre ;«—*these suns,
planets, and satellites sinking periodically into one
general chaos ; and thence again issuing forth, im-
pelled by new impulses, to form regenferated worlds;
and so issuing, returning, and re-issuing, at stated
periods, to all eternity ! This picture is presenfed
in the following lines of Ddrwin^ and I know of
nothing that can be pronounced to be its equal,
much less its superior.

" The Love Divine *, with brooding wings unfurl'd.
Call from the rude abyss the liying world.
* Let there be light /' ezclaim'd the Almighty Lord.
Astonish'd Chaos heard the potent word;
Through all his reahns the kindling ether runs^
And the mass starts into a million suns :

LovE^ the sire of Fate^

Elder than Chaos.

Hymn to the Naiads, /. 1.
The LovE^ designed in the text, is the one self-existent
and infinite Mind ; whom, if thfe geniality of ancient my"
thologists have not introduced, or trulf described, in ac-
counting for the production of the world and its appearances;
yet, to a modem poet, it can be no objection, that he hath
ventured to differ from them in this particular: though, ii
other respects, he professeth to imitate their manner and
conform to their opinions. For, in these great points of na-
tural theology, they differ no less remarkably among them^
selves; and are perpetually confounding the philosophic
relations of things with the traditionary drcumstances of
mythic histoty. — Akenside.

NOTES. 251

£!artfa8 tound each sun with quick explosions bunt.
And second planets issue from the first;
Bend^ as they journey with projectile force.
In bright ellipses, {heir reluctant course ;
Orbs wheel in orbs, round centres centres roll.
And fona, self-balanced, one reyolving whole*."

Dr. Olbers, and several oth^r eminent astrono-
mers, have given into the idea, that a large planet
once existed between the orbits of Mars and Ju-
piter ; and that it separated into four parts, form-
ing what are now called the Asteroids.

Much astronomical learning has been called into
action on this subject. It is argued, that Bode's

* Who can read the following letter, recently published,
from Dr. Beattie to Garrick, without a smile ? It reminds
us of " one John Milton," and of " one Matthew Prior"

"Aberdeen, March 16, 1772.
^^ I lately received a letter from one, who subscribes him-
self E. Darwin, Phytician, in Litchfield; containing some
objections to an ailment, advanced in my essay against
Mr* Hume's doctrine of extended ideas. His manner seems
rather captious; however, I know not how it is, my heart
warms to the man, either because his hand-writing bears
some resemblance to yours, or because he has the honour
to live in the town where you and Johnson were born ; and
therefore I will write to him soon, and I hope to satisfy all
his doubts, which, indeed, seem to arise from his not per-
fectly understanding either my philosophy, or that which
he himself defends."

252 NOTES.

law, and the law of Nature, are one ; and that they
both require the existence of such a planet. If so,
why does not this large body exist? If it were
wanted in times past, it is wanted in times present;
for all the apprehensions of Newton, in regard to
the solar system being susceptible of decay, have
long since been dissipated by La Grange's
discovery — the most splendid in modern times!
— that all the irregularities and inequalities, which
flow from planetary action, are, in reality, so
harmoniously adjusted to the various parts of the
vast machine, as to be, in all cases, constant in
periodical return : — while the labours of La Place
having established the knowledge, that the time of
a planet's revolution, as well as its mean distance
from the sun, are constant properties, it follows, as
a natural result, that all planetary existences are
beyond the reach of accident, and, therefore, for
ever unassailable by time.

Planetary distances are coiticidences ; not princi-
ples. If the Asteroids formed, originally, one body,
would not all and each of them present striking and
permanent analogies? What, however, are the facts?
The action of Juno not only differs from that of
the rest, but from those of all the other known
planets in the solar system. For when at her

NOTES. 253

greatest distance from the sun, she is at double the
distance she is when at the least; and the part of
her orbit, which is bisected by her perihelion, is
passed in half the time in which she traverses the
one more distant Then, as to the atmospheres of
these planets : — -that of Vesta is scarcely observable ;
that of JcjNO is more so; that of Pallas is still
more extended ; but Ceres ! — ^her atmospheric sub-
stance rises to a height even superior to those of the
other planets in the system all combined ! Where
then is the probability of these bodies having ever
formed one ? It is even possible, that Ceres and
Juno may constitute ccmnecting liiika between
PLANETS and COMETS: — a supposition not to be
lightly regarded ; for it is rendered strikingly proba-
ble by the circumstance, that the aphelion of Encke^s
comet lies at no greater distance from the sun, than
the space between the orbit of Jupiter and those
of the Asteroids themselves. They all breathe, as
it were, in the same hemisphere of the universe.

If the existence of a large planet be necessary,
Nature, by causing it to separate; its parts to move
in different orbits; and each part to present different
phenomena, has violated the most constant and most
comprehensive, as well as the most effective and
preservative of her laws.

254 NOTES.

If four planets will ^nswc^ the purpose of the
one, supposed to have burst, as, it appears, they
very effectively do, what difficulty can, tliere be in
supposing^ thai they hwe exi^^dfrom the creation
and of^usiment qf the system; as well as Jupiter
and Mars and all the other primary atnd secondairy
planets f Why, in fact, should we accuse Nature of
having done an act, which is not only unmacessaxy,
but which is in dedded opposition to all the lawp» by
which she can be recognised ?

Since the phenomaia of gravitation cannot, la
any way, be accounted for, either by matter or
motion ; if philosophers guard themselves agaiBSt
being shackled by the bonds of system, and from
being paralysed by the authority even of illustrious
names; if they keep themselves free to observe, with
unclouded eyes and unbiassed judgments, the varied
phenomena, presented to their view, and fbdingly
awake to every light, that may hereafter emanate
from the experience of the evcFrteeming laboratory
pf the human mind, it is not impossible but that the
masterly, — nay, the divine, — discovery <rf La
GRANGE may be found to lead to the propriety of
reconsidering the views, that have hitherto bem
entertained of gravitation. And it is not imposai?
ble, that such reconsideration may open the door to

NOTES. 855

the knowledge of an Jgeni^ hHherio imJcnawn and
unthought of J acting with it^ though of a nature
altogether different Jrom it; and of a subtlety
and minute power t^ appKcationy immeoMtrably
its superior.

€<

Witness the n^ect

Of all familiar prospectSy" &c.

B. L V. S34.

*' Principio^ cceli clamm purumque colorem,
Quemque in se cohibent palantia sidera passim^
Lunamque^ et solis prsdara luce nitorem :
Omnia que nunc si primum mortalibus essent^
£x improvise si sint objecta repente;
Quid magis hiis rebus poterat mirabile dici^
Aut minus ante quod auderent fore credere gentes?
Nihil^ ut opinor j ita bsc species miranda fuisset :
Quam^ tibi jam nemo^ fessus satiate yidendi^
Subspicere in coeli dignatur lucida templa."

Lucretius; De Rerum NaturOy ILL 1029.

A passage in Cowper serves to illustrate this in-
quiry:

(f

What prodigies can power divine perform
More grand> than it produces^ year by year;.
And all in sight of inattentive man ?
Faniiliar with th' effect^ we slight the cause;

356 NOTES.

And^ in the constancy of nature's course^
The regular return of genial months^
And renovation of a faded world,

4

See nought to wonder at

All we behold is miracle; but, seen
So duly, all is miracle in vain."

Winter Walk at Noon.

" At every solemn pause the crowd recoil>
Gazing each other speechless and congeal'd
With shivering sighs ; till, eager for th' event.
Around the beldame, all erect, they hang.
Each trembling heart with grateful terrors quell'd V

B. L 266.

The original of this is in Addison.

A modern poet has a transcendent passage :

'* 'Tis pleasant by the cheerful hearth to hear
Of tempests and the dangers of the deep.
And pause at times, and feel that we are safe:
Then listen to the perilous tale again.
And, with an eager and suspended soul,
Woo terror to delight us"

Soutkey,

There are few passages, even in Shakspeare,
superior to this.

* In the MS. notes, there is a direction for the trans-
planting this passage to Book III. after verse 278.

NOTES. 257

Sir Walter Scott, also, has a finely characteristic
passage in his poem of Rokeby.

'^ When Christmas logs blaze high and wide,
Such wonders speed the festal tide.
While CURIOSITY and fear.
Pleasure and Pain, sit crouching near;
Till childhoods cheek no longer glows.
And village-maidens lose the rose.
The thrilling interest rises higher.
The circle closes nigh and nigher.
And shuddering glance is cast behind.
As louder moans the wintry wind •."

* Cant II. St. 10. The astonishing success of this re-
markable man may be traced to causes, to a knowledge of
which the following passages from Rochefoucault, and his
commentator, form an ample key. " The height ofahility,'*
says the former, ^' consists in a thorough knowledge of the
real value of things, and the genius of the age, we live in*'
'* Most of the authors, immortalized by their contemporaries/'
says the latter, "have been indebted to this knowledge; or
else to the luck of living in an age, with whose turn their
abilities coincided,"

An author, of this splendid coincidence, seldom has to
wait. Fame haunts him wherever he may go. Those, on
the contrary, who look forward, with prophetic eyes, and
build on the future enlargement of the human mind, must
wait the time, for which they labour.

258 NOTES.

" Brightest progeny of heaven/' &c.

B. I. V, 280.

The passage, beginning with this line, and finish-
ing with '* Spring's elysian bloom,^ has been thus
translated by Warton.

Ex POEMATE DE VoLUPTATIBUS FaCULTATIS

Imaginatricis.

*^ O progenies pulcherrima caeli !

Quo tibi succorum tractu^ calamique labore ;
i>i vinos ducam vultus, coelestiaque ora?
Unde legam qui^ Diva^ tuis certare colores
Purpurei possint, discrimina dedala fuel?
Ergo age^ Musa, vago cursu per maxima mundi
I spatia ', et quicquid formosi florida tellus^
Quicquid habent maria^ et cftli spirablle lumen^
Delibes ; quicquid nitidum natura recondit
Dives opum variarum*, in amabile, Musa^ fideli
Confer opus studio. Seu liberioribus alis
Vin'^ comite Autumno^ per fortunata volare
Hesperidum nemora^ et dias Atlantidos oras,
Dum quacnnque Pater foecundo poUice lucum
Felicim contingit^ opacis gratia ramis
Fit nova> et auricomoftdsirunt viminafoeiuj;:
Qu&cunque incessit per ditia rura^ renident
Undique maturo subiti livore racemiX;
Apricosque recens iufecit purpura colles^
Quales occiduo nubes quie sole coruscaat^,

• Virg. Georg. II. 467. f ^n- ▼»• 1*0.

X Hor. Carm. ii. v. 10. . § Georg. i. 23S.

Sive cnaie TcSi, n^m «*wu4f •-
Daphnes dikcts, T^rm^tJt r*T^'

Nou

— *» wax tbc» ij.

Wicii bi^u^ Ammmm to df Atlntk

« By these klaiids, whkh ircrc, also, caUea inc
Fortunate r says Akeoside in a note to the origmal
edition, "the andents are now generany supposed
to have meant the Cflfiori^. They were celebrated
by the poets for the mildness and fertiHty of the
climate; for the gaidens of the daughtets of Hes-
perns, the brother of Atlas; and the dragon, which

•Moiis.Catli.y.72. In obitum Fredcrid, t. 21. Virg,

Georg. ii. 485.

t Hymn, ad Pan. ▼. 4. .fin. ii. 781.

t Luoet. ▼. 19%.

* s2

260 JIOTES.

constantly watched their golden fruit, till it was slain
by the Tyrian Hercules."

« Fair Tempe ! haunt belov'd of sylvan powers.
Of nymphs and fauns/' &c.

/. V. 299.

This passage is much amplified in the second
po^m; not much, perhaps, to the poetical advantage.

FrcMn this fountain Warton seems to have caught

a little of his inspiration, while writing the Pleasures

of Melancholy.

«' The laughing scaies

Of purple spring; where aU the wanton train

Of smiles and graces seem to lead the dance

In sportive round ; while from their hands they shower

Ambrosial blooms and flowers j no longer charm. ]

Tehfe! no more I court thy balmy bree2e: i

Adieu^ green vales! ye broiderd meads^ adieu!"

PlecLsures of Melancholy, %\.

We are under great obligations to Akenside : for
had he not written on the Pleasures of the Imagina-
tion, we had, possibly, never had " the Pleasures of
Melancholy,'' " the Pleasures of Memory," or ^' the
Pleasures of Hope."

" With these better cares

Th' indulgent mother^ conscious how inflrm

NOT£S. 261

Her oflfspririg tread the paths of good and ill.

By this illustrious image, in each kind

Still more illustrious/' &c. &c.

/. 357.

Among the MS. notes, this passage stands thus :

'' Now more illustrious, where the ohjept holds
Its proper powers most perfect, she hy this
Directs the headlong impulse of desire.
And sanctifies his choice. The glow of flowers.
Which gild the verdant pcuture, the clear track
Of streams delicious to the thirsty soul.
The hloom of downy fruitage," &c.

" Truth and good are one ;

That heauty dwells in them, and they in her
With like participation •."

Book I. LSI ^

The poet gives references, also, to several passages
in Shaftesbury. They are these;—

" I am ready enough to yield," said I, " that there is
no real good heside the enjoyment of heauty." '^ And

• " Do you imagine," said Socrates to Aristippus, " that
what is good is not beautiful ? Have you not observed, that
these appearances always coincide? Virtue, for instance, in
the same respect as to which we call good, is ever acknow-
ledged to be beautiful also."— X?nop^on. MemorabU, Socrat,
Lib. IIL c. 8.

SOSt IfOTES.

I am ready" replied Theocles^ " to yield, that there is
no real enjoyment of beauty^ beside what is good." —
Characi. II. 422.

" Should not this be still the same case, and hold,
equally as to the mind ? Is there nothing there, which
tends to disturbance and dissolution ? Is there no na-
tural tenour, tone, or order of the passions or affections?
No beauty or deformity in this moral kind? Or, allowing
that there really is, must it not, of consequence^ in the
same manner, imply health or sickliness, prosperity or
disaster f Will it not be found in this respect above
all, that what is beautiful is harmonious and proportion"
able; what is harmonious and proportionable is true ;
and that what is at once beautiful and true is, of conse-
quence, agreeable and good. Where, then, is this

BEAUTY or HARMONY tO be fouud ? HoW is this SYM-

MRTRY to be discovered and applied ? Is it any other
art than that of philosophy, or the study of inward
numbers and proportions, which can exhibit this in life?
If no other; who, then, can possibly have a taste of this
kind, without being beholden to philosophy? Who can
admire the outward beauties, and not recur instantly to
the inward, which are the most real and essential, the
most natur&lly affecting, and of the highest pleasure, 8S
well as profit and advantage." — Vol. iii. 181, 3, 4, 5.

For Shaftesbury's opinions, generally, on this
subject, see Moral Beauty, II. 409. Beauty
of Sentiments, Character of Mind, I. 136, 207;

NOTES. 263

III. 803. That Beauty is Truth, 1. 142; III. 180,
&c. Beauty of Virtue, I. 315. Scale of Beauty,
III. 218. How attractive and enchanting. III.
216, 218. Its extent, II. 211, 212, 213.

It is scarcely possible to read the passages, here
referred to, without recurring to Gray's poem, De
Principiis cogitandi.

<(

Sapientia dia

Hinc roseum accendit lumen, vultuque sereno
Humanas aperit mentes, nova gaudia monstrans,
Deformesque fugat curas, vanosque timores ;
Scilicet et rerum crescit pulcherrima virtus."

Will the reader excuse me for introducing in this
place a passage from the Harmonies of Nature ? It
belongs expressly to the subject.

ft Every object, which awakens pleasure in the mind,
is beautiful; since it produces the sensation of pleasure.
Whatever excites agreeable emotion, therefore, possesses
some intrinsic quality of beauty. Hence the term beauty
may be applied to every thing, which gives pleasure to
the mind ; from a woman to a problem ; from a planet
to a tree or a flower. Hence arises the intimate con-
nexion between beauty and virtue.

" In the spirit of this doctrine, Wibland, the cele-
brated German poet, has written a dialogue, conceived
in the manner, and executed with much of the sweet-
ness and delicacy of Plato. He imagines Socrates to
surprise Timoclea, a captivating Athenian virgin, at

S64 ]^OT£S.

her toilette ; dressed for a solemn festival in honour of
Diana ; attired in all the beauty of Nature and all the
luxuriance of art. His surprising her in this manner
gives rise to a dialogue^ in which the subject of real and
apparent beauty is philosophically discussed. The
arguments are summed up by Tistoclea^ at the end of
the discourse^ in which she declares herself a convert to
that fine moral doctrine^ which teaches^ that nothing is
beautiful, which is not good; and nothing good^ but
what is, at the same time, intrinsically beautiful,"

" Unless the imagination be excited^ as Mr. Alison
observes ^^ the emotions of beauty and sublimity are
unfelt. Hence, whatever increases the powers of that
faculty^ increases those emotions in like proportion; and
no objects or qualities being felt^ either as beautiful or
sublime^ but such as are productive of some simple
emotion^ no composition of objects^ or qualities^ produce
emotions of taste^ in which that unity is not preserved."

€i

Not let the gleam

Of youthful hope/' &c.

B. I. 387.

Akenside, — in his admiration of the Deity, — was
an ardent and decided enemy to every species of
superstition. In the MS. notes, attached to his own
copy, stands the following alteration.

" Nor be the hopes

Which flatter youthful bosoms here appall'd^
* Ch. 1. sect. 2, S ; ch. ii. sect. 2, 3.

NOTES. 265

Nor let false terror urge you to renounce

This awful theme of undeceitful good^

And truth eternal. Though th' ahhorred threats

Of sacred superstition^ in the quest

Of that kind pair^ constrain her kneeling slave^

To quench^ and set at nought the lamp of God

Within his frame :— through deserts^ thorns, and mire^

Though forth she led him credulous and dark^

And awed with dubious motion ; though at length

Benighted^ terrified, afflicted, lost.

She leaves him to converse with cells, and graves.

And shapes of death ; to listen all alone.

And by the screaming owl's accursed song.

To watch the dreadful workings of his heart;

Or talk with spectres on eternal woe.

Yet be not you dismay'd. A gentler star

Your lovely search enlightens."

This version is very different from those of the
first and second poems ; and much superior to both.
The passage in the first poem (Book 1. 387) is sup-
posed to have been levelled at Dr. Young : and a
similar application has been made of a stanza in his
Preface to the Odes.

" Nor where the boding raven chaunts.
Nor near the owl's unhallow'd haunts.

Will she her cares employ;
But flies from ruins and from tombs.
From Superstition's horrid glooms.
To day-light and to joy."

266 NOTES.

And wake the strong divinity of soul.

That conquers chance and fate/' &c. I. 431.

In the MS. corrected poem, we are directed to

read:

'^ Which conquers change or fate; or whether tund
For triumph, on the sumniit to proclaim
Her toils ; around her brow to twine the wreath
Of ever-lasting praise ; through future worlds
To follow her interminated way*'

In the second poem :

''Which conquers chance or fate; or on the height
The goal assign d her, haply to proclaim
Her triumph; on her hrotv to place the crown
Of uncorrupted praise."

c<

As the pearl

Shines in the concave of its azure hed.

And painted shells indent their speckled wreath."

'' Concharumque genus parili ratione videmus
Pingere teUuris gremium."

Lucretius, De Rer, Nai. IL 374.

Mrs. Barbauld, in her essay on the poem of
Akenside, makes an assertion, very extraordinary
for a lady of her talents and observation. " In the
Pleasures of Imagination only three similes are to be
found ; viz. that of Memnon's harp ; that of the
parhelion ; and that of the needles." There are,

I

i

NOTES. 867

on the contrary, two in the first book, more than
she alludes to ; eight in the second ; and six in the
third. There are also ten more in the second poem*.

* B. 1. 1. 454. As the pearl, &c

1. 582. As when the Persian, &c.

B. II. 1. 15. As the hlunt arrow, &c.

1. 141. Like a storm, &c.

1. 350. As flame ascends, &c.

1. 412. Flowed like the dewy lustre, &c.

1. 447. As watery murmurs, &c.

I. 524. As when a wolf, &c

L 604. As lightning fires, &c.

1. 663. Flew like the pictures, &c.

B. III. 1. 93. As the hloom of spring, &c.

1. 355. Like spring's unfolded hlossoms, &c.

1. 427. As when a cloud, &c.

1. 470. Like a young conqueror, &c.

I. 517. So fahles tell, &c.

1. 527. Free as the vital hreeze, &c.

In the second poem,

B. 1. 1. 248. Like clustered isles, &c.

1. 424. Like a gem, &c.

1. 678. As travellers hy night, &c.

B. II. I. 40. Like a welcome rill, &c.

I. 65. As in a polished mirror, &c.

1. 447. Like fond pilgrims, &c.

1. 578. As the young lion, &c.

B. III. L 441. Like a fair hand-maid, &c.

B. IV. 1. 10. Like waste of sands, &c.

1. 130. As earth itself, &c.

S68 NOTES.

^* But more lovely still

Is nature's chann> where to the full consent
Of complicated members^ to the bloom
Of colour^ and the vital change of growth.
Life's holy flame and piercing sense are given.
And active motion speak the tempered souL"

B. 1. 1. 464.

Ti5y ovrwv rolwv ra fuv, &c.

Max. Tykius, Dissert* xvii.

^' Ma piu natura ci diletta, e place
Se al bel contrasto de' tessuti membri,
E al lum^giar d' armonici colori,
£ alio sviluppo de' crescent! germi
Sacra fiamma di vita, un agil senso
Vien che s'aggiunga, ed un non pigro moto
Faccia di ben temprata anima fede."

Mazza, Lib, L 596.

^' Mind, Mind, alone, (bear witness, earth and heaven !)

The living fountains in tY^e/f contains.

Of beauteous and sublime."

B. L V. 481.

See Characteristics, i. 130 ; iii. 205 ; i. 137 ; ii.
440; iii. 168, ^5; ii. 83. Ed. 1737, Jkenside.

The alteration in the second poem is very im-
portant.

" He, God most high (bear witness, earth and heaven !)
The living fountains in himself contsAns,

»>

Of beauteous and sublime.'

B^ /. V. 363.

i

NOTES. 269

The succeeding passage, beginning with

*' Thue, O Father ! this extent
Of matter," &c. ;

Dr. Warton compares with a fine one in Pope's
Essay on Man : —

^' All are but parts of one stupendous whole.
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul ;
That, changed through all, and yet in all the same ;
Great in the earth, as in th' ethereal frame;
Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees ;
Lives through all life, extends through all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates unspent ;
Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part.
As full, as perfect, in a hair, as heart;
As full, as perfect, in vile man, that mourns.
As the rapt seraph, that adores and bums.
To him no high, no low, no great, no small ;
He fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all."

" Does this capacious scene^

With half that kindling majesty, dilate
Thy strong conception, as when Brutus rose.
Refulgent from the stroke of C^sak's fate.
Amid the crowd of patriots, and his arm
Aloft extending, like etemalJove,
When guilt brings down the thunder, caU'd aloud
On Tully's name, and shook his crimson steel.
And bad the father of his country hail !" /. 490.

Dugald Stewart thinks*, that the amplifica-

* Philosophy of the active and moral Powers of Man,
vol. i. p. 283.

270 NOTES.

tion of this scene weakens the e£Pect of the simple
narrative of Cicero. Casare interfecto — statim
cruentum alti extoUens M. Brutus pugionem^ Cice-
ronem nominatim excla%navit^ atque ei recuperatam
libertatem est gratidatus. — PhiL II. 12.

Akenside, — with other more exalted sentiments, —
seems to have adopted, from the Greek and Roman
theorists, the very questionable doctrine, that the
act of assassinating a tyrant may be associated —

a

With generous counsels and heroic deeds.'

^^ Brutus perished urUimely^ says the truly learned
and accomplished Mr. Harris in his Essay con-
cerning Happiness, " and Ccesar did no more. It
was thus, as I remember, not long since, you were
expressing yourself, and yet suppose their fortunes
to have been exactly paraUely which would you have
preferred? Would you have been Ccesar or Brutus?
' Brutus/ replied I, * beyond all controversy.' He
asked me, * why ; where was the difference, when
their fortunes, as we now supposed them, were
considered the sameT * There seems,' said I, * ab-
stract from their fortunes^ something, I know not
what, intrinsically preferable in the life and cha-
racter of Brutus.' * If that,' said he, ' be true, then
must we derive it, not from the su4:cess of his en-

NOTES. 271

deavours; but from their ^rii^ and rectitude. He
had the comfort to be conscious^ that his cause was
a just one. It was impossible that the other should
have any such feeling.' * I believe,' said I, * that
you have explained it */ ^

In Mr. Harris' Philosophical Arrangements is
another passage in the same spirit. '^ The domina--
tion of Caesar acted upon the imagination of Brutus :
that imagination acted upon his love for the re-
public: that love for the republic acted upon his
corporal organs. His hand, in consequence, plunged
a dagger into Caesar ; and, for a time, the republic,
which he loved, was restored -f-.*"

For a time^ the republic^ which he hved^ was
restored.

Harmodius and Aristogiton assassinated Hip-
parchus ; — Hippias escaped. Harmodius was seized
by the guards and massacred. Aristogiton was put
to the torture ; and, in revenge to the guards, for
having murdered Harmodius, he accused some of
them of being privy to his plot. They were inno-
cent; but being the intimate friends of Hippias, the
tyrant ordered them to immediate execution.

Who has not heard of Harmodius and Aristo-

♦ Works, vol. ii. p. 106, ito. ed. 1801.
t Works, vol. ii. p. 152.

272 NOTES.

giton? Who has not breathed with quickness,
when young, at the bare mention of their names ?
Were not their statues erected in the market-place
at Athens ? and was not that an honour never con-
ferred in that city before P Is there not a ballad
still preserved, commemorative of the deed? and do
not all boys, in classical schools, get it by heart?

Yet who were Harmodius and Aristogiton ? and
what was their deed? They were friends; and
more than companions of Leona, the courtezan.
They assassinated a public enemy ; but they assassi-
nated him — ^not in revenge for an injury to their
country —but in the spirit of revenge for a private
insult, oflTered to one of themselves.

Brutus plunged a dagger into Ccesar; and^Jbr
a time^ the republic was restored. Not for one mo-
ment! And to that assassination may be attri-
buted a long series of disasters, terminating in an
usurpation^ which closed with the destruction of the
republic in the first instance, and that of the empire
in the second.

The assassination was " not only a crime, but a
fault* r Antony predicted the result.

* The reader will, doubtless, remember the Duke of
Otranto's heartless criticism on the murder of the Duke
d'Enghein.

NOTES. 21S

^' A curse shall light upon the line of men :
Domestic furj^ and fierce ciyil strife^
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy :
Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
And dreadful objects so familiar^
That mothers shall but smile, when they behold
Their infants quarter'd by the hands of war."

The conspirators made ample provision for the
success of their plot against Caesar ; but little or none
for restoring the republic to its primitive principles.
Their conduct, in fact, was the personification of
imbecility.

The motives of Brutus have been strangely
overlooked. Csesar had seduced Cato^s sister;
kept her in obloquy publicly as his mistress;
and bought her a jewel at a price equivalent to fifty
thousand pounds * ! Who should this mistress be?
The mother of Bruttis. If Brutus could live, as
he did, for years in friendship under the same roof
with the man, who had seduced his mother, he could
never have stabbed the seducer for a public benefit.
Public motives can only be entertained by good
men.

Dante seems to have regarded Brutus with par-
ticular indignation. He even represents him, with

* Suetonius. In yit. Cas. c. 50.

T

874 NOTES.

his friend Cassius, as standing in the inferior r^ons
on each side of Judas Iscariot.

c'QueU' anima lassu eh' ha maggicw pena^
Disse 1 maestro, h Giupa Scabiotto^
Che '1 capo ha dentro^ e fuor le gambe mena.
De gli altri duo, ch' haimo 1 capo di sotto^
Quel che pende dal nero cefFo^ h Bbuto :
Vedi, come 8i storce/e non fa motto:
£ r altro e Cassio, che par si membruto."

Beir Inferno, Cant 34. 60.

Brawlers for liberty ! What are they but the
greatest enemies, public liberty has? They are
double enemies ; for they render her name not only
suspected but dreaded.

'' License they mean> when they cry Liberty!'

Milton, by this one sentence, expUcitly shows,
how well he had watdied the spirit of his tinaes,
and penetrated the intricacy of human affairs. AU
men love liberty for themselves ; but few are they,
who love liberty for others, as well as for them-
selves :

'^ Those, who love her, must first be wise and good."

The love of true liberty*, in fact, is always a cha-
racteristic in the formation of a noble mind.

• True Liberty is the freedom of nature, chastised
and regulated by just laws, operating, with ductility and
ease, through every portion of the body politic.

NOTES. 276

Every statesman should read Plato*8^r^ Alcibi'
odes; since it was written with the de^gn of incul-
cating the truth, that neither shipping, nor harbours,
nor fortifications, are of any avail to the happiness
of a state ; nor extent of empire, nor multiplicity of
population ; — if Virtue does notjbrm the basis of
manners and policy.

In reference to a tyranny, it is almost a truism
to remark, that the best method of getting rid of
it, — whether that tyranny is wielded by a despot,
an oligarchy, or a democracy, — is for the more re-
spectable portion of the people to be perpetually on
the watch, firm in resolve, quick in action, united
in object, and faithful to themselves. But to assas*
sinate a tyrant is committing a bad action with the
sure result of substituting one tyrant, or one species
of tyranny, for another; probably far worse than
the one which has been exercised and conquered.

*' As the candid blush

Of him, who strives with Fortune to be just/' &c.

L V. 505.

These, and several succeeding, as well as pre-
ceding, lines, are left out in the second poem ; and
yet, perhaps, nothing is superior in didactic poetry.

t2

276 NOT£S«

The poet would, it is probable, not have neglected
to preserve them, had he been allowed to finish his
undertaking ; though the part of the second poem,
where they ought to have appeared, seems to be
finished ; — amplified but not improved.

^ The graceful tear^ that flows from other's woes.**

/. tr. 506.

Darwin has a transcendent passage :

'^ Nor gilded pearly that crested Fortune wears^
Nor gem, that twinkling hangs in beauty's ears;
Not the bright stars, that night's blue arch adom^
Nor radiant sun^ that gilds the rising mom.
Shine with such lustre, as the tear, that flows
Down Virtues manly cheeks for others woes^

-'* Trace the forms

Of atoms, moving with incessant diange

Their elemental round/ &c.

/. 615.

''At, quoniam supra docui, nihil posse creari
De nihilo, neque, quod genitum est, ad nihil revocari ;
Esse immortal! primordia corpore debent,
Dissolvi quo qusque supremo tempore possint,
Materies ut subpeditet rebus reparandis.
Sunt igitur solids primordia simplicitate.
Nee ratione queunt alia, servata per svom.
Ex infinito jam tempore res reparare."

De Rerum Naiura, lib, /. v. 544.

NOTES. 2T7

-'* While among

The herd of servile minds^ her strenuous form,

Indignant^ flashes on the patriot's eye^

And through the rolls of memory appeal

To andent honour."

B, 7. V, 658.

Had Akensidie ever been, as he once hoped, a
member of the House of Commons^ he would, doubt-
less, have occasionally startled the members by
sudden appeals to " ancient honour." In the MS.
notes we read :

•" Different far

She starts, indignant, on the patriot's eye
Among the servile herd; her nervous hand
Points as she turns the record, and appeals
To ancient honour *."

* If he would try effectually to acquire the real science
or taste of life, he would discover^ that a right mind, or ge-
nerous affection, had more heauty and charm than all other
symmetries in the world j and, that a grain of honesty and
native worth was of more value than all the adventitious
ornaments, estates^ or preferments ; for the sake of which
some of the hetter sort so often turn knaves : forsaking
their principles and quitting their honour and freedom, for a
mean^ timorous, shifting, state of gaudy servitude.— CAo*
racteristics, vol. iiL )68.

278 NOTES.

BOOK THE SECOND.

<' When shall the laurel and the vocal strain
Resume their honours ? When shall we hehold
The tuneful tongue^ the Promethean hand
Aspire to ancient praise ?"

B. 11. 1

<' £ quando il lauro^ e le vocali corde

n prisco onor ripiglieranno ? E quando
L'armonica vedrem' aurea favella,

E la Promotea man dietro I'antica
Lode agognar ?"

Mazza.

'^ Oft as the gloomy kobth^ with iron-swarms^
Tempestuous pouring from her frozen caves
Blasted the Italian shore ; and swept the works
Of Liberty and Wisdom, down the gulf
Of all devouring night."

//. 9.

This is an error of long date : but the fact is,
the Goths were not such barbarians to Italy, as
were the Italians themselves : — all liberty and wis-
dom had long been lost, or they had never in-
yaded the country ; and even Rome itself scarcely
suffered more from the sack of the Vandals (not so

i

NOTES. 279

much from that of the Goths), than from the im«
penal troops in the time of Charles V.

•^' How doubly fair.

When first with fresh-bom vigour he inhales
Tlie balmy breeze, and feels the blessed sun
Warm at his bosom from the springs of life
Chasing oppressive damps and languid pain."

B, IL V. 93.

These lines remind us of a beautiful stanza in
Gray's poem on the Pleasures arising from Vicissi-
tude.

'^ See the wretch, that long has tost
On the thorny bed of pain.
At length repair his vigour lost.
And breathe and walk again ;" &c. &c.

Gray told Mr. Mathias, that M. Gresset's "Epitre
d me 8(Bury sur ma Convalescence^^ gave him the first
idea of this ode.

-"Nor ever, yet.

The melting rainbow's vernal tinctured hues," &c.

JB. //. 103.

Akenside seems to have remembered a passage

in Rapin : —

" Tunc et celesti quae didtur Iris ab arcu,
Splendebit, flores variata coloribus iUis,

280 VOTES.

QuoB pluvia accipiunt adveno nubila vole,
Iridis at Bpedes yariaa^ vuioaque colores
DistiDguet^ variis pro tempestatibus annus."

Hort. I.

'' Whether in wonders of the rolling deep.
Or the rich fruits of all-sustaining earthy
Or fine adjiuted springs of lifb and sense,
Ye scan the coonsels of their author^s hand."

B. IL 132.

LoGKE seems to have thought it possible, that a
child might think in lUero ; and Darwin goes no
small way to confirm the conjecture *.

Descartes went farther; for he carried his
imaginative powers so far as to suppose, that the
soul, when it enters the body, is inform.ed with the
whole series of metaphysical notions ; that it pos-
sesses all abstract ideas ; that it even knows God ;
and has the power of comprehending infinite space !

All this Descartes seems to have thought not
only possible, but probable; but he thought, at
the s^me time, that these sublime truths the soul
forgets at the moment, in which it beholds — as Ma-
dame de Stael would, probably, say on such an

occasion — " Aurore dHune vie nouveUe/*

»

Let us hazard a conjecture.

* Temple of Nature^ Cant. III. 1. 144. in notis.

NOTES. 26 1

The pistils of some flowers produce seeds, with-
out receiving any pollen from the stamens; and
birds produce eggs without any communication cum
maritis. But those seeds^ if planted, will never
vegetate; nor wiU those eggs produce the germ
of a living chicken. Most fishes, and some
reptiles, have iy> communication cum maritis what*
ever. They shed, and mariti fertilize afterwards.

From these phenomena it would appear, that the
materials, forming the body of the future plant,
bird, fish, and reptile, are secreted injeminis; and
the living spirit in masculis. How the bodily
machine acquires existence in the one, and how the
principle of life is secreted in the other, are both
secrets alike.

May not this be applied to the human subject?

The pater having communicated the living prin-
ciple to the inactive and unconscious mass (existent
in matrice), the latter becomes a mansion for the
former to reside in.

Through the windows of this mansion (viz. the
senses), the living principle receives impressions
from the external universe, which engender what
are called ideas; and the capacity of receiving
those ideas is what may be called mind.

^2 NOTES.

'^ Passion's fierce illapse
Rouses the mind's whole fahric j with supplies
Of daily impulse keeps the elastic powers
Intensely pois'd^ and polishes anew^
By that collision, all the fine machine;" &c.

B, IL V, 158.

This passage is thus rendered by the Italian
translator, who illustrates the subject with a passage
from Pope*.

*^ Questa col fiero

Urto per tutta I'anima s'intema ;
£ col soccorso de' frequenti impulsi
Agevola^ distende, e ognor mantiene
L' elastiche potenze equilihrate ;
£ in questa poi collision^ piu tersa
Tutta la fina macchina diviene."

Libro Secondo, 199.

In respect to the foundation of the mysterious
kind of pleasuref, which is sometimes experienced
in the exercise of the passions, generally regarded as

• ^' But strength of mind is exercise ; not rest.
The rising tempest puts in act the soul 3
Parts it may ravage, hut preserves the whole."

Pope. Soff. sopra rUomo, Ep> ii. v, 104.

t B. IL 157, ^93.

J

NOTES. 283

painful, Akenside dismisses the solution of Lucbe-
Tins *, and adopts that of Du Bos -I* ; viz. that it
arises Jram the general delight 9 winch tlie mind
tastes in its own activity: and its abhorrence of a
state of indolence^ joined with tJie self-applattsej
which always attefids the emotion^ when natural
andJtASt.

This solution, however, is not more strictly
accordant with true science, than that of Lucretius :
it is even less so : for it is, assuredly, more natural to
ascribe the sensation, alluded to, to a feeling of
conscious safety, than to one of conscious activity.

It seems, however, as if it would be more con-

* *^ Suave, mari magno torbantibus a?quora ventis^
E terra magnum alterius spectare laborem :
Non, quia vexari quemquam eatjocunda voluptas,
Sed, quibus ipse malis careas, quia cernere suave est."

LucRET. De Rer, Natnr. ii. 1.

Seattle has an admirable passage:

'' And oft the craggy difFhe loved to climb,
When all in mist the world below was lost.
What dreadful pleasureX ! There to stand sublime.
Like ship-wreck*d mariner on desert coast"

Minstrel, i. st 21.
f Reflexions critiques sur la Poesie et sur la Peinture.

How far superior to thejocunda voluptas of Lucretius !

284 NOTES.

sonant with truth, were we to reduce its solution to
that one simple canon, which teaches that misfortune
is attractive, and thence elicits sympathy much after
the manner, that magnets afiine and planets
gravitate.

'^ Twas in the windings of an ancient wood/' &c.

B, IL 187.

See Leibnitz, Essais de Theodicee, sur la Bonte de
Dieu, la Libert 6 de THomme, et TOrigine du Mai,
i. 21. 209. Moral, Physique, Metaphysique, 118,
119,209,241.

The purport of Akenside's allegory is to solve
the difficulty, in respect to the origin of evil : it
must, however, be confessed, that there is an
obscurity throughout ; — yet if he fail, — we &te to
consider, that he fails in a point, in which it was
impossible to succeed. The subject is invincible !

^' Is thy short span

Capacious of this universal frame ?

Thy wisdom all-sufficient* ? Thou — alas !

Dost thou aspire to Judge between the Lord

Of Nature and his works?"

B, IL L 245.

The last two lines remind us of two well-known
verses in the book of Job.

* f\

Commanding. — MS<

N0TE9. 285

*' 'Twas a horrid pUe

Of hillsj with many a shaggy forest mix'd.
With many a sable diff and glittering stream

Aloft recumbent."

B. IT. I 274.

In the Ms. notations we are desired to read —

" 'Twas a horrid pfle

Of cliffs, with many a shaggy forest mix'd^
With many a sable heathj and glittering stream
Aloft incvmbefit"

" Remurmuring rush'd the congregated floods

With hoarser inundation."

B. II. 282, 3.

'^ More ponderous rush'd the congregated floods.

And louder stiU resounded."

MS. Notation.

In respect to this and to other MS. corrections,
Mr. Pinkerton says: — " •As I know that Aken8ide''s
work on the Pleasures of Imagination is deservedly
one of your most favourite poems, I send you in-
closed what, I have no doubt, you will set a due
value upon : no less than a copy of all the correc-
tions he made with his own hand on that poem.
They were inserted in the margin of his printed
copy, which afterwards passed into the hands of a

* Heron's Letters.

886 ]»oTEs.

gentleman, from a friend of whom, and of my own,
a very ingenious young Templar, I received them.
At what time they were written I cannot pretend
to say ; much less to reveal the author'^s reasons for
not giving an edition according to them. You
will observe, that a few of them have been adopted
by the author in his proposed alteration of the
poem ; as appears from the two books, and part of'
the third, of that alteration, published by Mr.
Dyson in his edition of Akenside's poems, 177^,
4to, but far the greater part is unpubliAed*;
and that the most valuable, as being evidently
written ere the author had taken up the strange
idea, that poetry was only perfect oratory. So that
I will venture to say, that an edition of the Plea-
sures of Imagination, adopting most of these cor-
rections, would be the most perfect, ever yet knownf .''

-" With full accord

Answering the mighty models he had chosen.

The best and fairest of unnumbered worlds,

That lay from everlasting in the store

Of his divine conceptions."

B. IL I 333.

* And these only it has been thought proper to insert,
t An edition^ combining these and other advantages, will^
probably^ be published at no very distant period.

notes; 287

" This opinion,'' says Akenside, ** is so old, that
Timseus Locrus calls the Supreme Being da/tn^vyhg
rSf BaXr/ovog^ the artificer qfihat which is best ; and
represents him as resolving in the beginning to pro^
duce the most excellent work, and as copying the
world most exactly from his own intelligible and
essential idea ; so that it yet remains^ as it was at
firsi^ perfect in beauty^ and witt never stand in need
of any correction or improvement. See the vision
at the end of the Theodicie of Leibnitz.'^

Surely this is begging the question in a very
strange and contracted manner. Who can suppose
this world, in which evil must be acknowledged to
exist *, to be the lest that the Deity was capable of
Jbrmingf This is a subject beyond our compre-
hension ; but men differ greatly upon it.

Some years since I travelled, for several days,
with a Venetian gentleman, who had lost all his
patrimony during the occupation of Venice by the
French. We got out of the coach near the village
of Llandisilio, and passing through the church-

* Who can refiise to believe that Evil exists, while the
bodies, even of good men, are liable to the pangs of
^^ Intestine stone and ulcer, colic-pangs.
Demoniac frenzy, moping melancholy.
And moon-struck madness, pining atrophy.
Marasmus, and wide- wasting pestilence?"

288 NOTES.

yard, we sat down upon one of the gravestones;
and the conversation having taken a serious turn— ^
^^ This is indeed a beautiful valley !^ said he,
^^ and the country we have passed through is, I
think, almost equal to any thing I have seen in
the Venetian states. But what avails all this
beauty ? Where man places his foot, the box of Pan-
dora bursts open. Indeed, to me it appears as if
the Being, who created the globe, left it before he
had brought his plan to maturity, and passed on to
call forth new creations, more conformable to the
impresses, existing in his own mind. We are the
dregs of the universe !^

This was the momentary error of despondency :
but none are more ignorantly presumptuous than
those, who would set limits to the capabilities of
" the unfathomable deep^

Not only Binary and Tebnary systems have
been traced in the heavens, but Quadruple, Quin-
tuple, and Multiple ones; all connected in systems
of reciprocal attraction. Even their periods of
revolution have, in some instances, been detected.
One, for instance, in the Serpent, occupying 376
years ; a second in the Virgin, 708 years ; a third
in Leo, 1200 years; and a fourth in Bootes occu-
pying 1681 years !

T

NOTES. S89

To doubt that these, and all other Suks, Comets,
Planets and Satellites, are peopled with intel-
ligent Beings, is to have a very limited conception
of the uses, extension, splendour, and magnificence
of the universe, indeed ; as well as of the sublimity
of operation, characteristic of th^ Sovereign

POWEE.

The Electric Fluid is a substance ; every par-
ticle of Light is a substance ; the Essence of At-
traction is a substance. All these fluids are
passing and repassing, in myriads of directions, in
every fractional moment of time. There is, in fact,
no interval. There is a communication, then, every
instant, — one stellar body with another.

The Soul of Man is not of earthly substance,
Yyiii — speaking figuratively*— of etherial substance.
♦ * ♦ All fluids are Vehicles. * * ♦ *
May not the soul of man, at the period in which
it separates from the body, be conveyed on one,
or all of these Vehicles combined? * * * Whi-
ther? ♦ ♦ ♦

" Wait the great teacher. Death, and God adore."

■' ■ ** Looking up, I view'd
A vast, gigantic> spectre, striding on.

We can only speak figaratively, ou a subject of this kind.

u

@90 NOTES.

Through murmiiring thundery and a waste of donds.

With dreadful action ! Black as nighty his hrow

Relentless frowns involv'd: — ^his savage limbs^

With sharp impatience^ violent he writh'd^

As through convulsive anguish ; and his hand^

Arm'd with a scorpion lash^ full oft he rais'd.

In madness, to his bosom ; while his eyes

Rain'd bitter tears, and bellowing loud, he shook

The void with horror. — Silent, by his side.

The virgin came; no discomposure stirr'd

Her features : from the glooms, which hung around,

No stain of darkness, mingled with the beam

Of her divine effiilgence/'

B. 11. V. 506—520.

This whole passage is an instance of the true
sublime ; and the picture may be associated with
that of Death and Sin in Milton'^s Paradise Lost

€<

Ask the faithful youth*,

%

Why the cold urn of her he fondly loved.

So often fills his arms," &c. B, IL 683.

* Chiedi al fido Garzon, perch^ si spesso
Abbracci e stringa di colei, che tanto
Ebbe de' suoi sospir, la gelid' urna;
O perch^ sciolga solitario il piede
A lei recando nelle tadte ore
Delle lagrime sue mesto tributo.
Ah! ti dira, quanti ha tesori il mondo,
Questa non mi farian' ora si sacra
Unqua obbliar, in cui lungi alle cure
Bel livor, del tnmulto, una gradita

NOTES. 291

That Akenside was alive to all the soft Impulses
of nature, we have already shown. The loss of
Parthenia he seems never to have forgotten ; and
the grief, he had anticipated in the days of his
youth, he was fated to experience in the season of
manhood.

" When the pious band

Of youths^ who fought for freedom and their sires
Lay aide by side in gore."

B. 11. 726.

Bimembranza mi tragge, el core efBitto

Coi dokd Bguardi di virtu lusinga,

£ in estasi converte il pianto mio.

Mazza.

In reference to this passage it has been observed^ that
** when the mind has been liberally and elegantly cultivated;
where much sensibility and strength of passion are present,
and the misfortunes occurring turn upon the loss of some
tender and beloved connexion ; in this case, what may be
called the luxury of grief is more fully and exquisitely dis-
played. That mild and gentle sorrow, which, in the bosom
of the good and of the feeling, succeeds the strong energies
of grief, is of a nature so soothing and grateful, so friendly
to the soft emotions of the soul, that those, whose friendship
or whose love, the hand of fate has severed, delight in the
indulgence of reflections, which lead to past endearment,
which, dwdOing on the virtues, the perfections of the dead,
breathe the pure spirit of melancholy enthusiasm." — Drake.

u2

son NOTES.

** The reader will here naturally recollect the fete
of the second battalion of Thebes, which at the^
battle of Cheron6a, was utterly destroyed ; every
man being found dead by the side of his friend.
This affecting circumstance is recorded by Plutarch,
in his life of Pelopidas.'' — Akenside.

** When honoured urns

Of patriots and of chiefs^ — the awful bust

And storied arch^ to glut the coward rage

Of regal envy^ strew the public way

With hallowed ruins."

B. 11. 734.

To this passage may be traced Gray's line:—

" Can storied urn, or animated bust?"

and to the following, perhaps, Johnson'^s still more
celebrated one of —

'^ And panting time toiFd after him in vain."

*' To eyes, to ears.

To every organ of the copious mind
He offereth all his treasures. Him the hours ;
The seasons him obey ; and changeful time
Sees him, cU wiU, keep measure with Ms flight.
At will outstrip it*'

B. IF, V, 109.

NOTES. 293

BOOK THE THIRD.

M

The spacious west^

And all the teeming regions of the souths

Hold not a quarry to the curious flight

Of knowledge^ half so tempting and so fair

As Man to Man."

B. III. V. 7.

Pope says

*^ The proper study of mankind is man."

Akenside was fully aware of this axiom, and
wrote his poem to confirm the truth of it : and yet
it is very remarkable, that he omitted it in his second
poem. It is not impossible, however, that he might
have intended to insert it in some other portion
of the part, he meditated. It is thus rendered by

MAZZA tr

*' n diffuso occidente^ e le feraci
Australi region certo non hanno
Minieri si mirahile^ e che tanto
Aletti del Saper I'avido yoIo«
Quanto I'Uomo dell' Uom merta i riflessi *."

* From the manner in which this passage^ and indeed the
whole poem^ has heen translated^ how can a French reader

294 NOTES.

•** Where the powers

Of Fancy neither lessen nor enlarge
The images of things/' &c.

Diogenes Laertius, lib, vii. ; Meditations of M.
Aurelius ; and the Discourses of Epictetus ; Arrian,
lib. i. c. 12., and lib. ii. c. 2£« See also Charac-
teristics, vol. i from p. 31*3 to 3S1. — Akenside.

■" Some date

With martial splendour/' &c.

B- IIL V. 98.

This picture reminds us of certaia parts of
Othello^s apology; and serves to show the wide
difference between the impudence and modesty of
valour. Akenside^s description is, in fact, a rever-
^on of that, sketched by Shakspeare.

" He stalks^ resounding in magnific phrase

The vanity of riches, the contempt

Of pomp and power.'^

B* III. V. 136.

have even the smallest conception of that exquisite harmony
of rhythmu8> which distinguishes the original?

^* Les vastes contrees de t Occident, les fecondes rigions du
piidi noffrent rien de si digne de recherches, rien qui nUrite
autant texamen de la Science, gtie rhomme ne mSrite tetude
de thomme"

NOTES. 295

This picture is from Lucian ; though I cannot
refer to the page or subject. Seneca, who was rich,
and yet a contemner of wealth, may be supposed to
have sat for the original portrait of him,

" Whose eye regards not his iUustrious pomp
And ample store ; but as indulgent streams
To cheer the barren soil^ and spread the fruits
Of joy."

V, 147.

*' Mark the sable woods/' &c.

B. III. L 286.

In respect to lawgivers, Akenside seems to have
given a decided preference to Minos, Solon, and
NuMA. He does not once mention Lycuhgus.
Nearly the whole of the third book of the second
poem is devoted to the history of Solon ; and a
fine scene from nature is rendered much more affect-
ing to the mental eye by the poet^s having asso-
ciated with it two of the most celebrated legislators
of antiquity.

" Mark the sable woods.

That shade sublime yon mountain's nodding brow ;
With what religious awe the solemn scene
Commands your steps ! as if the reverend form

296 NOTES.

Of Minos or of Numa should forsake " '

Th' Elysian seats^ and, down th' embowering shade.
Move to your pausing eye."

I am indebted to Mr. Alison'^s work on the Nature
of the Emotions of Sublimity and Beauty * for the
first appreciation of this circumstance -f-.

• Pages 19,20,21.

f " There is also a passage in the same poet's Ode to Sus«
picion," he goes on to observe, ^^ in which a scene, which is,
in general, only beautiful, is rendered strikingly sublime,
from the imagery with which it is connected.

' *Tis thus to work her baneful power.
Suspicion waits the sullen hour

Of fretfulness and strife 3 *
When care the infirmer bosom wrings,
Or Eurus waves his murky wings

To damp the seats of life.

But come ! forsake the scene unblest,
Which first beheld your faithful breast

To groundless fears a prey ;
Come where, with my prevailing Ijrre,
The skies, the streams, the groves, conspire

To charm your doubts away.

Throned in the sun's descending car.
What power, unseen, difiuseth far
This tenderness of mind ?
: What Grenius smiles in yonder flood ?
What God, in whispers from the wood.
Bids every thought be kind r* "

NOTES. 297

^* 'Twas thuB^ if ancient Fame the truth unfold^
Two faithful needles, from th' informing touch
Of the same parent stone^ together drew
Its mystic virtue; and at first conspired^
With fatal impulse^ quivering to the pole.
Then, though disjoin'd by kingdoms, though the main
Roll'd its broad surge betwixt, and different stars
Beheld their wakeful motions, yet preserved
The former friendship, and remember'd still
Th' alliance of their birth : whate'er the line
Which one possess'd, nor pause, nor quiet knew
The sure associate, ere with trembling speed
He found its path, and fix'd unerring there."

3. III. 325—337.

As Akenside directs us to the poem, recited by
Cardinal Bembo, in the character of Lucretius, in
Strada^s Prolusions, the reader will not be dis-
pleased to find it here.

^' Magnesi genus est lapidis mirabile, cui si

Corpora fern plura, stylosve admoveris; inde

Non modo vim^ motumque trahent, quo semper ad ursam.

Qua lucet vidna polo se vertere tentent :

Verum etiam mira inter se ratione modoque

Quotquot cum lapidem tetigere styli, simul omnes

Conspirare situm motumque videbis in unum,

Ut si forte ex his aliquis Roma moveatur.

Alter ad hunc motum, quamvis sit dissitus long^

Arcano se natural feedere vertat.

Ergo age, si quid scire voles, qui distat, amicum.
Ad quem nulla accedere possit epistola; sume
Planum orbem patulumque, notas elementaque prima

S98 NOTES.

Qrdine^ quo ducunt pueri describe per oras
Extremas orbis; medioque repone jacentem^
Qui tetigit magneto, stylum; ut versatilis inde
Literulam quamcnnqae Telia, contingere possit
Hujoa ad exemplum, simili fabrica veris orbem
Margine descriptum, manitnmque indice fern,
Ferri quod motum magnete accepit ab illo.
Hunc orbem discessurua dbi portet amicus,
Conyeuiatque prius, quo tempore, queisre diebus
Ezploret, stylus an trepidet, quidve indice signet

His ite compositis, si dam cupis alloqui amicum,
Quern procul a tete terrai distinct ora -,
Orbi adjunge manum, ferrum versatile tracta.
Hie disposta vides elemento in maigine toto :
Quies opus est ad verba notis, hue dirige ferrum;
Literulasque, modo banc, modo et silam cuspide tonge,
Dum ferrum per eas iterumque iterumque rotando,
Componas sigillatim sensa omnia mentis.
Mira fides long^ qui distat cemit amicus
Nullius impulsu trepidare volubile ferrum.
Nunc hue, nunc illuc discurrere : conscius ha^ret,
Observatque styli ductum, sequiturque legendo
Hinc atque bine elemento, quibus in verba coactis
Quid sit opus sentit, ferroque interprete discit
Quin etiam cum store stylum videt, ipse vidssim
Si qua respondenda putet simili ratione
Literulis vari^ toctis, rescribit amico.

O utinam haec ratio scribendi prodeat usu:
Cautior, et dtior properaret epistola, nuUas
Latronum verito insidias, fluviosque morantes.
Ipse suis Princeps manibus sibi conficeret rem;
Nos soboles scribarum emersi ex squore nigro,

CONSECBAREMUS CALAMUM MAONETIS AD ORAS."

Strada. Prol, Lib, 11. ProL VL

NOTES. 299

€C

By d^ees the mind

Feels her young nerves dilate : the plastic powers

Lahoor for action : blind emotions heave

His bosom, and with holiest ^enzy* caught.

From earth to heaven^ he rolls his daring eye,

From heaven to earth."

B. III. I. S80.

Thus Sbakspeare : —

€€

The poet's eye, in a fine irenzy rolling.

Glances from earth to heaven, from heaven to earth.

And as imagination," &c.

*' As when a doud

Of gathering hail with limpid crusts of ice
Enclosed, and obvious to the beaming sun.
Collects his large eflfulgence, straight, the heavens
With equal flames present on either hand
The radiant visage; Persia stands at gaze
Appall'd; and on the brink of Ganges doubts
The snowy vested seer, in Mithra's name^
To which the fragrance of the south shall bum.
To which his warbled orisons ascend."

B. III. V. 427.

This very sublime simile stands a chance of not
being exactly understood by some readers; but

* In the MS. corrected poem we are directed to read:

** with holiest frenzy caught

From earth to heaven, he darts his searching eye
From heaven to earth."

300 NOTES.

when they are reminded, that Akenside alludes to
the two suns, one real, the other fictitious, so often
beheld in very hot, as well as in very cold, tem-
peratures, the sublimity will be so striking, that a
critic, perhaps, might be justified in placing it in a
rank, second only to Milton^s simile of Satan to the
Sun during the time of an eclipse.

" a visionary Paradise disclosed.

Amid the dubious wild/' &c.

B.III.v.Sn.

This whole passage seems to have been founded
on the following description in the Spectator, No.
413, " We are every where entertained with pleading
shows and apparitions^ we discover imaginary glo-
ries in the heavens and in tfie earth, a/nd see some
of this visionary beauty poured out upon the whole
creation. But what a rough unsightly sketch of
nature should we he entertained with^ did aU her
colouring disappear, and the several distinctions of
light and shade vanish ! In short, our souls are,
at present, delightfully lost and bewildered in a
pleasing delusion ; and we walk about like the en-
chanted hero in a romance, who sees beautiful cas-
tles, woods and meadows, at the same time hears the
warbling of birds and purling of sir earns; but upon

KOTES. 301

ihejinishing of some secret spells the fantastic scene
breaks upland the disconsolate knight Jinds himself
on a barren heath, or in a solitarj/ forest."^

" What then is Taste ?"

S. IIL V. 515.

Akenside here traces the causes to which may be
referred the pleasure, which is received from all,
that strikes us in the material world with the sensa-
tion of beauty. These are traced to the conclu-
sion, that ^* the beauty and sublimitj/ of the qualities
of matter arise from their being the signs or expres-
sions of such qualities, as are fitted by the constitu-
tion of our nature, to produce emotion,"^ The pas-
sage is thus rendered by the Italian translator.

*' Dunque il Gusto ch' ^ mai^ se non rinterne
Fotenze agili e forti^ e a sentir pronte
Ogn' impulso leggiero ? un retto senso
II Decente a discemere^ e' 1 Sublime^
E in ogni spezie a ripulsar ben presto
Deformi obbietti^ inordinati e rozzi ?
Questo prestar non pon gemme^ o tesori^
Di porpora splendor, industria j e solo
Dio solo, allor cbe I'efficace destra
La secreta dell' alme indole impronta^
£gli puo sol rOmnipossente Padre
Prudente, giusto, libero, siccome
L'aura di yita e la luce del Cielo,
Le bellezze svelar della Natura/'

302 NOTES.

See Bbttinelli^s DdT Entunasmo deUe beW
Arti, This work is very little known in this coun-
try ; and yet it is worthy of being so. The author
seems to have been acquainted with Milton, Ossian,
and other British writers; but I do not remem-
ber his having once alluded to Akenside; a cir-
cumstance, rather extraordinary, when we consider
the nature of his work.

" Ask the SwAiK,

Who journeys homeward from a summer day's
Long labour," &c.

Beattie has a fine passage, in some degree asso-
ciating with this :

'< From silent mountains, straight with startling sound.
Torrents are hurl'd; green hills emerge; and lo.

The trees with foliage, difis with flowers are crown'd;
Pure rills through vales of verdure warbling go,

And wonder, love, and joy, the Peasant's heart o'erflow."

^' Amid the mighty uproar, while below

The nations tremble, Shakspeabe looks abroad.

From sdme high diff superior, and enjoys

The elemental war/'

B. III. V. 555.

^^ Horace regards it as the last effort of philoso-

NOTES. 303

pbic fortitude to behold, without terror and amaze-
ment, this immense and glorious fabric of the uni-
verse:—

' Hiinc solem^ et stellas^ et decedentia certis
Tempora momentis, sunt qui fonnidine nulla
Lnbuti spectant.'

a

Lucretius is a poet not to be suspected of giving
way to superstitious terrors ; yet when he supposes
the whole mechanism of Nature laid open by the
master of his philosophy, his transport on this mag-
nificent \iew, which he has represented in the colours
of such bold and lively poetry, is overcast with a
shade of secret dread and horror :—

' His tibi me rebus quedam divina Yoluptas
Percipit, atque borror^ quod sic natura tua vi
Tarn manifesta patet ex omni parte retecta.'"

Brown.

'' Ob^ blest of Heav'n ! wbom not tbe languid songs

Of Luxury^ tbe Siren !" &c.

B. III. L 568.

Shaftesbury^s ideas on luxury are stated in vols,
i. 810. 316. 319, &c.; ii. 147, &c. ; iii. 199. 804.
His ideas in regard to pleasure may*be traced in
i. 808 ; ii. 226 ; iii. 200. 229. He proves, that
pleasure has no rule of good, i. 309* 339 : that the
pleasures of mind are far superior to those of the

304 NOTES.

body, ii. 99^ 100 : and that even men of pleasure
are compelled to acknowledge the influence and
delights, which impregnate a virtuous bosom, i. 140.
Ed. 1737.

" Not a breeze

Flies o'er the meadow^" &c.

///. 593.

Marcus Antoninus, lib. iii. 2. — Aeenside.

" What though not all

Of mortal offspring/' &c.

The advantages of a cultivated imagination are
here set forth in a very masterly manner.

«

What though not all

Of mortal offspring can attain the heights
Of enyied life \ though only few possess
Patrician treasures or imperial state ;
Yet Nature's care^ to all her children just^
With richer treasures and an ampler state.
Endows at large whatever happy man
Will deign to use them.

His the city's pomp.
The rural honours his. Whate'er adorns
The princdy dome, the column and the arch.
The breathing marbles and the sculptur'd gold.
Beyond the proud possessor's narrow claim.
His tuneful breast enjoys.

NOTES. 805

For him the spring
Distils her dews^ and from the silken gem
Its ludd leaves unfolds : for him the hand
Of autumn tinges every fertile hranch
With blooming gold and blushes like the morn.
Each passing hour sheds tribute from her wings ;
And still new beauties meet his lonely walk.
And loves unfelt attract him. Not a breeze
Flies o'er the meadow, not a cloud imbibes
The setting sun's effulgence, not a strain
From all the tenants of the warbling shade
Ascends, but whence his bosom can partake
Fresh pleasure unreproved*."

* Professor Stuart has a beautiful observation in his Phi-
losophical Essays. (P. 609. 4to.) '' When a man has suc-
ceeded, at length, in cultivating his imagination, things, the
most familiar and unnoticed, disclose charms invisible before.
The same objects and events, which were lately beheld with
indifference, occupy now all the powers and capacities of the
soul; the contrast between the present and the past serving
only to enhance and to endear so unlooked for an acquisition.
What Gray has so finely said of the pleasures of vicissitude,
conveys but a faint image of what is experienced by the man,
who after having lost, in vulgar occupation and vulgar amuse-
ment, his earliest and most precious years, is thus introduced,
at last, to a new heaven and a new earth.

The meanest floweret of the vale.
The simplest note that swells the galC)
The common sun, the air, the skies>
To him are opening paradise."

X

806

XOTKS.

" With God himself hold converse."

B, III. 629.

There is an elegant paper in the Tatler (or Spec-
tator), by Bishop Berkeley ; the moral of which
is, that he cared little to be the real possessor of an
estate, as long as he was allowed the use and plea-
sure of walking over it, as often as he pleased.
Akenside alludes to this in a line quoted above.

€t

Beyond the proud possessor's narrow daim/

Akenside was doomed to the dust and poison of
a large city, during the greatest portion of his life.
His proper sphere was the garden and the valley,
the mountain, the ocean, and the firmament, where
with a hallowed mind he might have

" With God himself

Held converse, grew familiar, day by day,
With his conceptions, acted on his plan.
And form'd to his the relish of his soul*.

• <t

L'Uomo in tal guisa.

Cui dilettano lopre di Natura,
Con Dio conversa, e all' alte idee di Lui
Di giomo in giorno familiar si rende 5
Ed operando sul modello istesso
I suoi disegna su i piacer di Dio."

Mazza.

NOTES. 807

Johnson, in criticising this poem, cites a passage
from Mr. Walker. " Akenside's picture of man is
grand and beautiful, but unfinished. The immor-
tality of the soul, which is the natural consequence
of the appetites and powers she is invested with,
is scarcely once hinted throughout the poem." In
apology for which supposed omission, Johnson con-
cedes, that he has omitted what was not properly
in his plan.

This is a very striking instance to prove, I think,
that Mr. Walker could have known as little of this
poem as Johnson himself ; neither of them having,
it is more than probable, read it with the confined
attention, necessary to embrace the whole of its
subjects*

Akenside^s poem would have been very defective
indeed, had the author (by omission) stript man of
the high destiny for which his virtues will endow
him at the period of death. But he has not done
so ; the following passages all implying, and that
most expressly, this all-commanding consumma-
tion: —

— ^' WTiile the voice

Of truth and virtue up the steep ascent
Of Nature calls him to his high reward^
Th' applauding smile of heaven/' &c

B. L 163.

X2

L

308 NOTES.

<i

The high-bom soul

Disdains to rest her heav'n-aspiriDg wing
Beneath its native quarry."

B. L 183.

■" For from the birth

tt

Of mortal man^ the Sovereign Maker said^
That not in humble, or in brief delight/

-" But from these.

Turning, disdainful, to an equal good.
Through all th' ascent of things enlarge his view.
Till every bound, at length, should disappear.
And infinite Perfection close the scene."

B, I. L 212. Second Poem.

" To trace her hallow*d light through future worlds.
And bless Heav'n's image in the heart of man."

B. L 436.

u

The generous glebe.

Are only pledges of a state sincere,
Th* integrity and order of their irame.
When all is well within, and every end
Accomplished."

B. L 364.

*' Led by that hope sublime, whose cloudless eye.
Through the fair toils and ornaments of earth.
Discerns the nobler life, reserved for heaven."

Second Poem, L 489.

NOTES. 309

-'' Beyond the adamantine gates

Of death expatiates ; as his birthright claims
Inheritance in all the works of God ;
Prepares for endless time his plan of life^
And counts the universe itself its home."

B. IL L 147,

-^' Nor is the care of Heaven withheld^

From granting to the task proportion'd aid.
That, in their stations, all may persevere
To climb th' ascent of being, and approach
For ever nearer to the life divine *."

B. IL L 359.

And here we may triumphantly cite a passage, —
forming a comprehensive and decisive antidote to
the puerile and pestilential arguments of atheism ;—
than \?hich nothing, perhaps, in human language
can be quoted more harmonious in point of taste;
more strictly accordant with true ethics ; or more
beautiful or sublime in poetry and philosophy.

^'Lo ! she appeals to Nature ; to the winds
And rolling waves, — the sun's unwearied course, —

* Shaftesbury, also, clearly admits a future state \ witness
those passages in his Characteristics, where he argues not
only on its probability, but its absolute necessity and proof:
vol. ii. 275. See also, i. 18, 97, 98—102 ; ii. 236, 7 ; iii. 303 ;
as well as his opinions in respect to rewards and punish-
ments, ii. 65, 273 ; i. 97 ; ii 69 ; i. 100.

SlO NOTES.

The elements and seasons. All declare
For what the Etebnal Maker has ordain'd
The powers of Man. We feel within ourselves
His energy divine ; He tells the heart.
He meant. He made us, to behold and love
What He beholds and loves, the gen'ral orb
Of life and being ; to be great like Him,
Beneficent and active.

Thus the men.
Whom Nature's works can charm, with God himself
Hold converse, grow familiar, day by day.
With his conceptions, act upon his plan.
And form to His the relish of their souls."

B. III. V. 620.

The Deity, and a future life, are the highest
subjects, that can engage the exercise of the human
ima^nation.

Aristotle associates the mind of man with a
tablet, on which there is no picture ; Hookee com-
pares it to a book, wherein nothing is yet written ;
but in which all things may be written ; and to these
similitudes may be traced Locke's celebrated illus-
tration, in regard to " white paper. '^

Man, then, is born, not in sin and impurity; but
in purity and innocence; susceptible of all good
thoughts, and comprehensively capacious of all vir-
tuous deeds.

The true object of education is not to enable
us to play, more cunningly than others, ** the

NOTES. 311

subtle game^ of life; but to give us judgment to
perceive the true objects of existence ; wisdom to
preserve a rectitude of path; and pure mental asso-
ciations, wherewith to charm us to our joumey'^s end.

Shall the hours of our youth, then, always be
wasted? Shall the fountains of our imagination
always be poisoned ? and shall the science of society
always be as dark as the Sibyl, and as difficult as
the Calculus ?

Are these the hopes for which we live? Are
these the fruits for which we toil ? Are these the
ends for which we suffer ?

' The Genius of Education still rests, as it were,
with one foot in his cradle. He stands, contemplating
the sublime volume of human happiness; but till he
presents the leaf, imparting to governments the duty
of teaching men the apparently contrasted arts of
enlarging their minds, contracting their wants, re-
gulating their wishes *, and referring all to one stu-

* The practice of the past and of the present has been^ and
still is^ in decided opposition to this; and ever will be so^
until Political Economists shall have discovered the true
object for which governments are established; viz. not for the
purpose of making nations rich, vain^ powerful and imperious >
but content with little, and practically desirous of promoting
the comfort of all that breathe.

As no one comes into the world through the medium of hi»

312 NOTES.

pendous cause; — instead of ease after mild labour,
and thoughts, on which the mind, contented, may
repose ; for the rich and great, little better will
there be than abundance and languor, proud hopes,
ambitious aspirations, heartless deeds, and sleepless
nights : for the poor, intensity of labour and inten-
sity of want; impurity and disease; sorrow and
ignominy ; hopeless honesty, and cruel wounds.

own choice, every one, that does come, has a natural right, —
until that right is forfeited hy the infringement of good laws^
— not only to food and clothing, hut to a life, valtiable to
himself.

When these cannot he commanded hy honest endeavours
(of hody or of mind), the state of society is cruelly^ if not
criminally, defective; and it hecomes the imperative duty
of all to aid an existing government in putting forth its full
extent of lawful influence and power, to the end, that the
Legitimate Right may command the Legitimate Result.

THE END.

LONDON :

printed by THOMAS DAVIS(^^, WHITEFRIAES.

i.

0/

APR 4 1938